The War on Terror : What is it about?
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Ever since 9/11 struct America, there have been people who said that the "war on terror" had begun long agon. That 9/11 just made it plain obvious to the American people, but that Al-Qaeda had been striking for years.
The political class had been hammering one argument, again, again and again:
The Terrorists want to destroy America. They want to destroy it's values, it's freedom, it's people. These people HATE us, and they will stop at nothing to destroy us.
But wait a second, Al-Qaeda struct in Spain. So they don't want to destroy America. Or at least, the terrorists aren't after America ALONE. They want to destroy the whole occident! All the western values, it's culture, it's freedom. They want to destroy us all, Americans or Europeans.
But then, terrorist organisations struct in... Morroco. In Algeria. They struct in Lebanon, Pakistan. What does these have to do with destroying the West?
Nothing. Because we must reach a conclusion; the global war we are fighting is not about destroying us. While attacking with terrorists attack helps them reach their goal, America's (or Occident's) destruction isn't the point of the whole conflict that have been set in motion decades ago.
In the past year, we have seen clear process in Pakistan & Turkey to get the state closer to an Islamic state as ever before. Talibans are forcing the same issue in Afghanistan. The Muslim Brotherhood is trying to achieve an islamisation of the Egyptian governement, while the Hamas tried to do the same to the Palestinian authority.
Islamists got into power for a time in Somalia - and they are still fighting hard -. Morrocans & Algerians have internal pressure to favor more islamist-friendly laws & legislations. I think the trend here is clear.
The whole conflict is about Islamisation of the states in the Muslim world (From Senegal to Indonesia). They are fighting in both democratic/peaceful way and trough violent and savage actions, but whatever their mean, their goal are the same.
Where does attacking America/West fits into that? Well, what stands into the path of the Islamists? Secular governements, more often than not oppressive regimes, such as the Morroco's, Egypt's, Pakistan's, where the military have a great deal of power into the state affair. Sadly, the West/America often used these regimes to advance their own ends. They supported them with weapons - and are still supporting them -, while the population hasn't the right to a clear democratic governement. The more we support these authoritarian (sorry for vocabulary) regimes, the more civil unreast among these population will grow strong, and the more the Islamists will be able to harnest such grumbling.
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood made spectacular progress in the recent elections, where SOME seats were allowed to be freely chosen by the people. It is a clear example of the dilemma facing the West: supporting democractic actions, or stopping the islamists?
So... where does fighting America/West fits in? By attacking America, terrorists are gaining prestige. They are inspiring their youth into taking arm, they are inspiring hope into their religions. Also, they hope that America & Co will take actions in their countries that will harm the populations - and it worked -. The more America felt treathened, the more it took actions that made it unpopular (digging the pit) among the population, and the more the population linked America (and our so-called "decadence") to the secular regimes that it supports.
So, what should we do? I am not sure. Personnaly, I think that we should help the islamist win the day. On the short-term, it may sounds like a bad idea, but I am sure the wave of islamisation is unstoppobable, and if they aren't allowed DEMOCRATICLY to win, in one of two more generation, they will take violently and bloodly what they want.
Making the process of islamisation as bloodless and democratic as possible will not only turn the new islamic states into less-antagonists figures, but will also favor the population, who will see the USA really acting to it's word, and not only when it favors it. A democractic change will also allow for a possible rebalance toward more secularism on the long run, because otherwise, the new islamic states may be authoritarian regimes (like Iran), where the clergy has every right (or almost).
But the most important thing, Americans should stop thinking it's about THEM. They are (sorry to say) quite self-centered when you think of it. They are being attacked as collateral damage in a conflict that is happening at the other side of the world. They are not the ones peticulary treathened, or aimed.
The political class had been hammering one argument, again, again and again:
The Terrorists want to destroy America. They want to destroy it's values, it's freedom, it's people. These people HATE us, and they will stop at nothing to destroy us.
But wait a second, Al-Qaeda struct in Spain. So they don't want to destroy America. Or at least, the terrorists aren't after America ALONE. They want to destroy the whole occident! All the western values, it's culture, it's freedom. They want to destroy us all, Americans or Europeans.
But then, terrorist organisations struct in... Morroco. In Algeria. They struct in Lebanon, Pakistan. What does these have to do with destroying the West?
Nothing. Because we must reach a conclusion; the global war we are fighting is not about destroying us. While attacking with terrorists attack helps them reach their goal, America's (or Occident's) destruction isn't the point of the whole conflict that have been set in motion decades ago.
In the past year, we have seen clear process in Pakistan & Turkey to get the state closer to an Islamic state as ever before. Talibans are forcing the same issue in Afghanistan. The Muslim Brotherhood is trying to achieve an islamisation of the Egyptian governement, while the Hamas tried to do the same to the Palestinian authority.
Islamists got into power for a time in Somalia - and they are still fighting hard -. Morrocans & Algerians have internal pressure to favor more islamist-friendly laws & legislations. I think the trend here is clear.
The whole conflict is about Islamisation of the states in the Muslim world (From Senegal to Indonesia). They are fighting in both democratic/peaceful way and trough violent and savage actions, but whatever their mean, their goal are the same.
Where does attacking America/West fits into that? Well, what stands into the path of the Islamists? Secular governements, more often than not oppressive regimes, such as the Morroco's, Egypt's, Pakistan's, where the military have a great deal of power into the state affair. Sadly, the West/America often used these regimes to advance their own ends. They supported them with weapons - and are still supporting them -, while the population hasn't the right to a clear democratic governement. The more we support these authoritarian (sorry for vocabulary) regimes, the more civil unreast among these population will grow strong, and the more the Islamists will be able to harnest such grumbling.
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood made spectacular progress in the recent elections, where SOME seats were allowed to be freely chosen by the people. It is a clear example of the dilemma facing the West: supporting democractic actions, or stopping the islamists?
So... where does fighting America/West fits in? By attacking America, terrorists are gaining prestige. They are inspiring their youth into taking arm, they are inspiring hope into their religions. Also, they hope that America & Co will take actions in their countries that will harm the populations - and it worked -. The more America felt treathened, the more it took actions that made it unpopular (digging the pit) among the population, and the more the population linked America (and our so-called "decadence") to the secular regimes that it supports.
So, what should we do? I am not sure. Personnaly, I think that we should help the islamist win the day. On the short-term, it may sounds like a bad idea, but I am sure the wave of islamisation is unstoppobable, and if they aren't allowed DEMOCRATICLY to win, in one of two more generation, they will take violently and bloodly what they want.
Making the process of islamisation as bloodless and democratic as possible will not only turn the new islamic states into less-antagonists figures, but will also favor the population, who will see the USA really acting to it's word, and not only when it favors it. A democractic change will also allow for a possible rebalance toward more secularism on the long run, because otherwise, the new islamic states may be authoritarian regimes (like Iran), where the clergy has every right (or almost).
But the most important thing, Americans should stop thinking it's about THEM. They are (sorry to say) quite self-centered when you think of it. They are being attacked as collateral damage in a conflict that is happening at the other side of the world. They are not the ones peticulary treathened, or aimed.
