Fighting Al Qaeda is Not on the Playground
These guys are not our friends, but they are also not the main threat from Al Qaeda
We need to fight Al Qaeda. We need to win against Al Qaeda. They present the clearest and most present danger to our world. They are happy to kill, willing to die, trying to get nuclear weapons and they do not have a return address that can be held hostage either to preemptive war or retaliation. Almost all of us agree on this. But what is Al Qaeda and who are we fighting? Here is where the agreement breaks down.
Since shortly after 9-11 we have seen the men swinging on the monkey bars in Afghanistan. That is our default picture of Al Qaeda. We are told that these are pictures of Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan--and I'm sure they are. But the threat to our lives, our nation and the world is not coming from veiled men swinging on monkey bars in Afghanistan or Somalia.
The Duke of Wellington famously remarked that "The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." We are not attacked on 9-11 by turban-wearing men who had perfected their techniques by climbing ropes, firing AK-47s or, yes, swinging on monkey bars in playing fields of rural Afghanistan. We were not attacked by peasants or Pashtuns or the Taliban.
We were attacked by educated, middle, and upper-middle-class citizens of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. While Bin Laden may indeed have schemed in a camp in Afghanistan, the money came from Saudi Arabia. The training took place in Germany, in San Diego, in Florida flight schools and in our own Mid West--not the Mid East.
Al Qaeda was not Saddam Hussein. It is not the Taliban (an ethnically Pashtun nationalist force). Al Qaeda is almost exclusively ethnically Arab and Sunni fundamentalist. It does not have a headquarters to be destroyed. It does not have a single leader or council to be eliminated. Bin Laden, whether alive or dead, is a symbol--as well as a check-writer. He is not a mastermind. He is a spokesman.
Fighting pitched battles against the Taliban is a distraction from pursuing Al Qaeda wherever they go. And they are portable. Their franchise is spreading across North Africa and destabilizing (relatively) moderate Arab regimes. It is spreading into South East Asia and the Pacific. It is making inroads in Latin America, working to convert grievance in Chiapas Mexico into the embrace of Salafi (Wahabbi) Islam. It is working to make converts in American prisons, American mosques and American suburbs.
Recess is over. We need to turn away from the ragged men on the monkey bars and go after leadership, the financial infrastructure and corrupting Imams. George W Bush was exactly wrong. This is not a set piece war for tanks, troops and jet fighters. This critical struggle will not be won by invading other nations. This is about intelligence, policing and international cooperation. This is about focusing on the enemy and not a far-away playground.
©2009 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.com
Thank you, Jonathan. I printed you article on Al Qaeda to be discussed by us, the 4 old men who meet every Wednesday at I-HOP for lunch. We are trying to understand what the heck is going on in this world and sometime we find something worthwhile to talk about.
Ciao.