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Editorial: The First Rule
of War
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War on Terrorism is Lost if We Fail
to Properly Identify the Enemy.
The just completed Bali ceremonies of mass mourning for the
victims of
October 12th; the boastful confessions of the man apprehended
for that
crime; the mounting evidence that the outrage was the work
of terrorist
with international connections; the perverse glee revealed
in recent
public statements by Al Qaeda rejoicing at the death of Bali
innocents;
the heightened states of security alerts now in effect for
New York and
Washington; and the fears of poison gas attacks in Great Britain
and
Europe - all point to the irrefutable fact that the world
is engaged in
an international war on terror and its ruthless practitioners.
Joining the War Effort
The victims of New York, Washington, Pennsylvania and Kuta-Legian
were
only yesterday by our sides and sorely missed by grieving
family and
friends. Yet, if the intensity of the rabid hatred preached
by their
killers is any indication, there are more wakes for us to
keep and
funerals to attend before the current war comes to some sort
of "final"
conclusion.
Having just tasted the bitter fruits of this war, the people
of Bali are
anything but neutral non-combatants in that war. In a single
night of
madness, Al Qaeda and its fellow travelers launched a brutal
attack on
the peaceful people of Bali, managing to alienate its 3 million
people
and eliminating the chance of feeling any real sympathy for
Al Qaeda and
their claims of religious victimization at the hands of the
West.
Notwithstanding the current prayers for peace and reconciliation
being
offered on this island, it's been suggested that if raffle
tickets were
sold for places on the firing squad to execute Amrozy and
his
accomplices, sufficient funds might be collected to substantially
reduce
Indonesia's massive national debt. History shows that blood
flows red
and warm in the veins of the Balinese who steadfastly demand
justice
from their police, prosecutors, and judges in connection with
the
bombing of October 12th.
In the war against terrorism, the people of Bali are now
fully enlisted
foot soldiers against those who perpetrated that outrage and
threatened
their very way of life.
The First Rule of War
Consequently, the United States and the rest of the developed
world
needs to be reminded that the cardinal rule of war is to first
decide
the battle lines, clearly defining who are your allies and
those that
you consider your foes.
Deciding sides in the current war on terror, without its
clear battle
fronts and distinct demarcation lines, will sometimes prove
difficult
and certainly require more than the knee-jerk reactions currently
in
evidence in the formulation of travel warnings now in effect
for
Indonesia, Thailand, and other nations in the region. These
difficulties
aside, the need to correctly differentiate the enemy from
your allies
remains vitally important for the battles ahead.
It reeks of both folly and simple-mindedness to decide the
identity of
the enemy in the current war on the simple milieu of "us"
and "them."
When terror can strike at any place in the globe, to arbitrarily
declare
vast areas of the planet occupied by other potential victims
of terror
as unsafe reveals all the wisdom of an ostrich whose head
is soundly
buried in a hole standing in the middle of a mine field.
In the face of the just issued U.S.
security alerts for Washington and
New York, we ask: Should Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand
warn its
citizens to defer all travel to the United States, withdraw
their
nationals working at the United Nations, close their respective
embassies, and terminate all their business interests there?
It's Enough to Make Osama Smile
If the Al Qaeda terrorists intentions are to unsettle world
economies
and bring the West to it knees in fear, they are currently
enjoying
tremendous success by anyone's standard. Our airlines teeter
on the edge
of bankruptcy, international trade has been negatively impacted,
our
children are considered security threats and no longer issued
visa to
attend Western colleges and universities, and - as seemingly
reflected
in current visa and travel advisories - the West views the
people and
this region with both fear and loathing.
No doubt, that repugnant cave dweller who fancies he has
a direct line
to God could not have prayed for more spectacular results
in the wake of
his heinious attacks on the West. How, in his wildest dreams,
could he
have envisioned the west would crumble so quickly after his
initial
forays of terror?
Rather than introduce policies grounded in fear and xenophobia,
what's
really needed is to undertake the moral equivalent of WWII's
lend-lease
program to combat the scourge of international terrorism.
Instead of
playing into the enemy's hands by resorting to isolationism,
no effort
or resource should be spared in preserving the lines of free
commerce
between peoples and cultures. Air and shipping lines should
be viewed as
critical industries in this war and kept in operation at any
cost. Our
best minds and system technologists must be called upon to
devise
systems to keep the wheels of international business and tourism
safely
flowing. Governments should underwrite terror risk insurance
to prevent
those who profit from fear from crippling international commerce.
If
necessary to get travelers flowing, incentives should also
be offered to
the brave hearts who lead by example and send the enemy "a
message" by
undertaking a program of international travel.
The west has both the know-how and the technology to reduce
the risks of
travel to acceptable levels. And, undoubtedly, in achieving
this goal
we'll spend heavily and suffer casualties along the way. But,
do we have
any choice except to wage all out war against terrorism when
the only
alternative is capitulation to those evil plotters hunkered
down in
their far-away caves?
Isolationism and the spread of fear are the best friends
and main
comforts of cave-dwelling terrorists.
The last thing we need to do is
to play the game by their rules.
-----Original Message-----
From: balinews-owner@balidiscovery.com
[mailto:balinews-owner@balidiscovery.com] On Behalf Of Bali
Update
Sent: 18 Nopember 2002 13:18
To: balinews@balidiscovery.com
Subject: BALI UPDATE #322
Yield the World to Terrorists?
Hungary,
18 November 2002.
