Remembering who we are may be the most important of all. Even where I live in an area that is generally supportive of American interests I still think there is about 10% of the population who believes the following narrative: 1.)America mistreated the Arabs. 2.)The Arabs were justified in the response against America. 3.)Terrorism arises solely because of America's actions and is a justified response to American aggression. 4.)America should apologize to the Arabs ans withdraw all support for Israel. 5.)The Arabs are victims of American aggression and their responses are fully justified.
When people hold these views, even to a small degree, at best, they will make no effort to actually assist in the war effort and, at worst, will do all the can to sabatoge the war effort. I'm not entirely certain but I think in some areas of the nation the percentage of people who hold these views of "who we are" is going to be much higher than 10%. I would estimate that nation wide probably about 20% to 25% of the populace holds these views.
Given the fact that the media generally holds such views to some degree and these views get extended coverage the estimate of 20 to 25% may be high. Even if it is only 10% this is still dangerously high. Imagine if any organization had 10% of its members doing nothing to help the organization achieve its goals or worse if many of them were actively working to undermine the goals of the organization. Perhaps worse still suppose many high level officials within the organization, in this case the United States of America, actively support the views of "who we are" mentioned above. It probably gets even worse. Many of these same officals are actually on the payroll of the enemies of the organization, in this case the USA, that they are supposed to be representing.
In this environment, even if it is only 10% of the members of the organization who believe the above narrative of who we are and the rest of situation is not as dire as laid out in the previous paragraphs, it is going to be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to act decisively against Islamic terrorism.
To give an example, if one believes the above narrative, then water boarding Islamic terrorists would be horrifying because these people are simply acting to defend themselves against American aggression. It would also follow that torturing American citizens or beheading them would be acceptable to the extent that they are trying to engage the enemy becuase the US is the "evil" one fighting the "good guys, the Arabs.
This is the problem in a nutshell. Frankly, I'm not sure how to fix it. Maybe another 911 might change this. After all, the next 911, should it occurr, will probably involve the use of radioactive "dirty bombs", suitcase nuclear weapons, or very likely both. Multiple cities will be completely destroyed and 10s of millions of people will be killed. Many of the dead will have believed the narrative laid out abouve of who we are laid out above!! Then maybe we can FINALLY take the neccessary measures to defend our civilization. Unfortunately by this time it will probably be to late. The enemy will have grown in strength to the point that we lack adequate resources to defeat it.
Actually another 911 might not even be necessary for the Islamists. They are having great success at infiltrating our institutions and taking over from within. Since many Americans believe the country is fundamentally evil or that the Islamic terrorists are morally equal to America, an adequate defense cannot be mounted to this take over from within.
Again, I'm not sure how to fix this problem. God help us all.
Remembering who we are may be the most important of all. Even where I live in an area that is generally supportive of American interests I still think there is about 10% of the population who believes the following narrative:
ReplyDelete1.)America mistreated the Arabs.
2.)The Arabs were justified in the response against America. 3.)Terrorism arises solely because of America's actions and is a justified response to American aggression. 4.)America should apologize to the Arabs ans withdraw all support for Israel.
5.)The Arabs are victims of American aggression and their responses are fully justified.
When people hold these views, even to a small degree, at best, they will make no effort to actually assist in the war effort and, at worst, will do all the can to sabatoge the war effort. I'm not entirely certain but I think in some areas of the nation the percentage of people who hold these views of "who we are" is going to be much higher than 10%. I would estimate that nation wide probably about 20% to 25% of the populace holds these views.
Given the fact that the media generally holds such views to some degree and these views get extended coverage the estimate of 20 to 25% may be high. Even if it is only 10% this is still dangerously high. Imagine if any organization had 10% of its members doing nothing to help the organization achieve its goals or worse if many of them were actively working to undermine the goals of the organization. Perhaps worse still suppose many high level officials within the organization, in this case the United States of America, actively support the views of "who we are" mentioned above. It probably gets even worse. Many of these same officals are actually on the payroll of the enemies of the organization, in this case the USA, that they are supposed to be representing.
In this environment, even if it is only 10% of the members of the organization who believe the above narrative of who we are and the rest of situation is not as dire as laid out in the previous paragraphs, it is going to be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to act decisively against Islamic terrorism.
To give an example, if one believes the above narrative, then water boarding Islamic terrorists would be horrifying because these people are simply acting to defend themselves against American aggression. It would also follow that torturing American citizens or beheading them would be acceptable to the extent that they are trying to engage the enemy becuase the US is the "evil" one fighting the "good guys, the Arabs.
This is the problem in a nutshell. Frankly, I'm not sure how to fix it. Maybe another 911 might change this. After all, the next 911, should it occurr, will probably involve the use of radioactive "dirty bombs", suitcase nuclear weapons, or very likely both. Multiple cities will be completely destroyed and 10s of millions of people will be killed. Many of the dead will have believed the narrative laid out abouve of who we are laid out above!! Then maybe we can FINALLY take the neccessary measures to defend our civilization. Unfortunately by this time it will probably be to late. The enemy will have grown in strength to the point that we lack adequate resources to defeat it.
Actually another 911 might not even be necessary for the Islamists. They are having great success at infiltrating our institutions and taking over from within. Since many Americans believe the country is fundamentally evil or that the Islamic terrorists are morally equal to America, an adequate defense cannot be mounted to this take over from within.
Again, I'm not sure how to fix this problem. God help us all.