IP: cowardice and strategy

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Gerry Faulhaber" <gerry-faulhaber () home com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
> Subject: cowardice and strategy
> Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 23:14:56 -0400
>
> Dave-- for IP if appropriate
>
> President Bush characterized the attack of 9/11 as a "cowardly" act, and
> some have noted that it is not a cowardly act to kill yourself for a cause
> you believe in (even if woefully misguided).  Bill Maher was a bit too
> "Politically Incorrect" when he pointed this out on his show, and received
> much criticism.  In fact, he is correct; the pilots were not cowards; they
> were willingly sent to their deaths by others, not unlike the Japanese boys
> who flew into US ships at Okinawa in1945 "for the Emperor."
>
> The cowardly act was not the suicide pilots'; the cowardly act was those who
> sent them and then refused to identify themselves and their cause.
>
> Few appear to have noticed that no one, no group, has claimed responsibility
> for the 9/11 attacks.  If a group had a political purpose, it would announce
> itself and its demands: free our political prisoners, stop aiding Israel,
> end the blockade of Iraq, whatever.  After all, the point of such an attack
> ought to be to achieve an objective, and you can't do that unless the
> violence is accompanied by a demand for that objective.  When a Palistinian
> youth with a bomb strapped to his body rushes into a crowded Israeli store,
> we know what he wants, and why he did what he did.  Even the kidnappers in
> Munich 1972 Olympics announced who they were and why they did what they did.
>
> If the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks believe their cause is just, then
> identify themselves and announce their cause; let the world judge.
>
> By failing to identify themselves and announce their cause, the perpetrators
> are identifying themselves as cowardly killers; their only interest is in
> killing people, apparently Americans.  And they are willing to send other,
> more gullible, men to their deaths to do so.  We know why the Palistinian
> suicide bombers do what they do.  We knew why the Japanese kamikaze pilots
> did what they did.  However misguided, they had a cause they were proud to
> announce.  Why not the men behind the WTC/Pentagon bombers?
>
> Do they deserve to be hunted down?  Yes.  Do those who support their efforts
> deserve our enmity?  Yes.  But above all, what America does needs to be seen
> by the rest of the world, particularly the Muslim world (not our enemies) as
> *right*.  SpecOps to kill bin Laden & Company must be seen as appropriate
> and necessary; carpet bombing of *proven* terrorist camps must be seen as
> legitimate.  And financial isolation of regimes providing support to
> terrorists must be seen as fully justified.  This requires a level of
> intelligence we apparently are now lacking but need desperately.  It also
> requires some sharing of that intelligence with others to support our
> credibility.  This cannot be used as an opportunity to take out guys we
> don't like.  It must be tightly and visibly tied to defeating terrorism and
> responding to the threat we now confront.  "Settling old scores" is a wildly
> bad strategy.
>
> If we are defending civilization, as President Bush asserted, then we must
> be civilized ourselves, even when we fight a war.  Nothing could be more
> difficult, and we have had our failures in this regard in wars past.  But
> being strong and effective does not mean being barbaric and indiscriminate.
>
> There was only one thing President Bush neglected to mention in his very
> strong speech: we need to be ready for casualties, maybe lots of them.  This
> is a war; soldiers die.  There will be lots more than 6,333 deaths in this
> war; we need to be ready for this.  This is the time America is to be
> tested; let's pray our leaders are up to it; I know our people are.
>
> Gerald Faulhaber
> Business and Public Policy Department
> Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
> Philadephia, PA 19104
> 215-898-7860



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