ROOT CAUSES, PRESIDENT BUSH...AND THE ART OF WAR
jose soplar
By: Glenn R. Jackson
As Secretary Powell returns from the Middle East, and the President's
war plans slip further off course, it is always worth noting the art
of war. Two maxims of war require repeating. Nation's to succeed in
a new war must not be caught fighting the last war. The second from
the writings of Sun Tzu, "appear unexpectedly at points your enemy
must hasten to defend." It is surprising to see this administration
full of old hands being caught so completely off guard by both.
The Bush administration, in fighting the last war, is engaged in a
strategy developed to overcome the threat of Saddam Hussein and Iraq
and is missing, to the detriment of U.S. success, a chance to defeat
the true enemy. The enemy we fight is not a nation-state but an
ideological variant that has gained a great following. It holds
people and nations captive much as the false philosophy of communism
did. The enemy in this new war is a militant Islamic philosophy, and
it has been gaining ascendancy for the last 50 years.
During the Fateh offensive of the Iran/Iraq war, Robin Wright writing
in her book "Sacred Rage," reported that she saw "scores of boys, aged
anywhere from nine to sixteen, who said with staggering and seemingly
genuine enthusiasm that they had volunteered to become martyrs."
These youth's, "known as baseeji," had a unique mission. "They led
the way, running over fields of mines to clear the ground for the
Iranian ground assault. Wearing white headbands…shouting "Shaheed,
shaheed" ("Martyr, martyr"), they literally blew their way into
heaven."
While young children cannot fly planes yet, do we think for a second
that under their current captivity to an evil philosophy that they
will not grow to learn?
The problem we face as a nation is staggering. The U.S. must defeat
and destroy a philosophic infrastructure that is not constrained by
national borders…not even our own. This evil variant must be
completely eradicated and discredited, and then the people
enlightened. Now that is a tall order.
To win this war the President should keep his eye on the root cause,
militant Islam, and not pursue a continuation of the last war. True
Saddam is a very bad man, but he is not the source of the current
Terror War. Saddam has no love of militant Islam; after all it will
destroy him as eagerly as it will seek to destroy us. It is only that
we are first on the list that saves him now.
No, if the President commits to fighting our last war, he will leave
our true enemies at our backs. They will not hesitate to use that
advantage.
Over the last month the maxim of Sun Tzu has been forcefully brought
home to the President, as he hastily sought to defend the flash point
in the Middle East and dropped his advancement on other war fronts.
Let us take advantage of our momentary succumbing to the wiles of the
art of war and re-evaluate our next steps in the Terror War.
Iraq is a distraction not a main event. Keeping Saddam pinned up with
"internal strife" is the best course of action. The President must
seek a policy that makes Saddam hasten to defend the unexpected, not
expose America's back and flanks to the enemy. Putting Iraq on a
"back-burner" gives the U.S. a chance to strike another unexpected
blow at the real enemy.
Saudi Arabia and the oil princes must move to the top of our list.
All roads of the Terror War lead through Saudi bank accounts. From
bankrolling Iran's Khomeini, to bin Laden's finances, and even to the
recent Saudi SuicideKids Telethon, the Saudi's are at the heart of the
Terror War. Imagine a swarm of Ted Turner's with a real nasty
religious fervor and you have the picture of the oil Princes.
The President's policy must shift now, and dramatically, in order to
strike a real telling blow in the Terror War. It will mean abandoning
whatever love of Arabian oil he has inherited from his father, but it
will win significant ground in the Terror War without firing a shot.
While the President still has the political capital to expend, he
should immediately and forcefully push the ANWR oil drilling.
President Bush should convey that it is not only the reduction of
American foreign oil dependence he seeks, but also a studied and
serious blow at the financing of militant Islam that he seeks to
undercut. With apologies to the President's anti-Drug campaign, our
oil policy really IS financing the terrorist and we must end that
immediately.
With Russian oil as our backup, it is better to fund the Russian
economy with oil money then the Saudi's, we will "appear unexpectedly
at points our enemy must hasten to defend." Saudi oil revenue must be
slashed. At this point it will also be time for "our good friend"
Mexico's President Vicente Fox to put up or shut up and to ensure a
flow of cheap Mexican oil.
President Bush has the political capital and prestige to convey to the
nation the truth of our Terror War. Such truth will not betray his
current approval ratings with the American people. And he will have
struck a real blow against Terror. The Saudi's can return to the
President's good graces with a hard pledge to promote both regional
peace and a Saudi "Marshal" plan to promote liberty and undercut
poverty.
In the Art of War you are either the puppet or the puppet-master.
Glenn R. Jackson is Chairman of the American Reformation Project,
former State Chairman for Buchanan Reform and former state Chairman of
the Georgia Freedom Party. Glenn also served on the Executive
Committee of the Reform Party USA. He is a regular columnist for
Ether Zone.
Glenn R. Jackson can be reached at: grja...@mindspring.com
Published in the April 26, 2002 issue of Ether Zone.
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