Blogs > FROM "BLACK HOWK DOWN" TO LONDON

Jul 30, 2005

FROM "BLACK HOWK DOWN" TO LONDON



"Since suicide terrorism is mainly a response to foreign occupation and not Islamic fundamentalism,” Richard Pape told the July 18 edition of The American Conservative, “the use of heavy military force to transform societies over there ... is only likely to increase the number of suicide terrorists coming at us.” In other words, Mr. Pape argues that, taking the war to the enemy merely serves only to recruit more suicide bombers into the ranks of al-Qaeda and its allies." Instead, the US should leave Muslim territories and use only off shore forces to protect its regional interests.

However, the Somali identity of at least two (if not three) of the failed London bombers refocuses attentionon the fact that Clinton (I assume at the urging such experts as Clarke and Sheuer) tried that strategy in Somalia. Bin Laden issued a Fatua, attacked US forces and they packed up their bags leaving behind them a" capable" UN force.

Instead of defusing the situation it led Bin Laden to conclude that"you go kill a few Americans and they go away," as one expert described it. This also reinforced his contempt for American staying power and fueled his ambitions to use terrorism to drive American influence out of the Muslim world: If the deaths of 18 soldiers could cause the withdrawal of 25,000 U.S. troops from Somalia, bin Laden had reason to believe that killing more Americans could lead to a similar pullout from Saudi Arabia."

Just as importantly, the failed state of Somalia became a major terrorist base and a major threat to its neighbors. It should be noted that the reason the US did go into Somalia, were taunts by then UN secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali who chided the West for caring about Bosnia, which he called"a war of the rich" and ignoring Somalia. Live 8 called on the West to forget about the war on terror and focus on eradicating poverty in Africa. But the retreat from Somalia left East Africa at the mercy of The terrorist next door." Those terrorists murdered hundreds of Africans, undermined their economic growth and is set to do additional damage:

A report by the Crisis Group Africa, a regional crisis-monitoring group, of July 11, indicates that some operatives with links to the world’s most deadly terror cells have been to Kenya from their bases in Somalia . . .

The Crisis Group report says:"Members of the al-Qaeda’s Somali cell are today among the most wanted fugitives on the planet. As the ‘wildcard’ of the group, Fazul is considered the most dangerous and is, therefore, the most sought after. He is also maddeningly elusive, moving with apparent ease between Kenya, the Comoros and Somalia."

Recycling failed policies on clueless experts is not the way to fight terror.



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