Return-Path: <sentto-279987-3008-1003249640-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Tue, 16 Oct 2001 09:28:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 6056 invoked by uid 510); 16 Oct 2001 16:27:01 -0000 Received: from n32.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.82) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 16 Oct 2001 16:27:01 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-3008-1003249640-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.4.52] by n32.groups.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 16 Oct 2001 16:27:20 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_0_1); 16 Oct 2001 16:27:19 -0000 Received: (qmail 77002 invoked from network); 16 Oct 2001 16:27:08 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by m8.onelist.org with QMQP; 16 Oct 2001 16:27:08 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta1 with SMTP; 16 Oct 2001 16:27:08 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id JAA20692 for iwar@onelist.com; Tue, 16 Oct 2001 09:27:08 -0700 Message-Id: <200110161627.JAA20692@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> X-Yahoo-Profile: fcallnet Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 09:27:07 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Terror.Threat.Requires.Savage.Response] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Defense News October 15-21, 2001 Terror Threat Requires Savage Response By J. Michael Brower Leon Trotsky, the first Soviet commissar for war, still speaks to those on either side of the ramparts of today's so-called new kind of war -- a war, nevertheless, with a long, tortured past. "War, like revolution, is founded upon intimidation," he wrote in his 1920 pamphlet, "Terrorism and Communism." "A victorious war, generally speaking, destroys only an insignificant part of the conquered army, intimidating the remainder and breaking their will. The Red Terror ... kills individuals, and intimidates thousands." The terrorist attack of Sept. 11 drew America into a war of intimidation. As the price of security, albeit with trepidation and reluctance, Americans must be prepared to cashier some freedoms, much treasure and many lives. Trotsky's hallmark formula of "Permanent Revolution" applies: Terrorists have declared a perpetual war on America, so America must place itself on a permanent war footing. Just as those who stopped the terrorist reign of Abu Nidal found, extremism is no vice when the enemy's method is beyond the pale. For the terrorist, all means to harm the public are within the pale. Plans must be laid accordingly. The sponsors of terrorism who view Western life as an abomination regard thousands of killed and wounded as but a dress rehearsal. Chemical, biological and possibly tactical nuclear weapons are the enemy's next logical steps. And even as an international coalition unites, terrorists are eyeing indefensible targets at home- water supplies, fragile infrastructure, landmarks, refineries, communications and ultimately, large urban population centers. Sadly, savage countermeasures are required for the short term. To deter future terrorist aggression, Osama bin Laden will have justice delivered to him. Yet unbridled killing augments the cadre of martyrs and martyrs-in-waiting. We may act with fury, but not with blind fury, if we are to prevent the coalescing of radical Islamic fundamentalist forces, divided unless united by indiscriminate attack. And even as military action is prepared, the West must be prepared to institutionalize a passport society, suffer racial profiling, possibly federalize security for airlines or regulate them entirely, expand search and seizure, and permit extremes in the interrogation of suspected terrorists. Later, it may be necessary to militarize labor, the borders and civil society in general, and practice armed retaliation against suspected terrorists and their safe havens. Americans are understandably loath to suspend their social liberties, but after the next, sadly inevitable, terrorist attack, they may be more amenable. "History teaches us that when adventurist organizations lack sufficient political forces to solve a task, the idea of terrorist acts arises by itself. This is the classic formula of individual terrorism," Trotsky wrote in August 1940. Terrorism is the last act of the desperate organization, an appeal to chaos. Should America ignore historical instruction provided by those who have mastered this foul art form, we propose our candidature for gravedigger of both American freedom and national survival. Trotsky could only endorse terroristic methods to counter terrorism from counterrevolutionary forces. Trotsky, like those who beat Abu Nidal, seized the families of the enemy-in-arms, a necessary action when that is the only thing between committing the terrorist act and choosing a more responsible course of protest. The methods of Trotsky and the intelligence squads that battled Abu Nidal included isolating terrorists from society, targeting them with special secret police hit squads, holding hostages, political assassinations and battlefield executions, and separating the terrorist cause from the genuine grievances of the people. When facing the prospect of weapons of mass destruction, freedom must surrender some of itself to security. Trotsky taught that terrorism is a calculated, though misguided and misanthropic, approach to addressing the helplessness of the masses. Defending against it is a permanent societal posture. The only historically effective short-term solution to terrorism is to deal with its symptoms terroristically. For the long term, state-sponsored, institutionalized terrorism must witness its breeding grounds defoliated by a process of expanding social and economic justice. When common people, in whose behalf the terrorist acts, can renounce violence and dare to hope for a better future, terrorism withers away. In navigating a complex, interdependent, yet economically polarized world full of apocalyptic weapons, these are the only roads. Lt. J. Michael Brower, who serves in the Air National Guard state headquarters in Vermont, worked from 1991-'97 for the administrative assistant to the secretary of the U.S. Army and the assistant secretary of the Army. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Pinpoint the right security solution for your company- Learn how to add 128- bit encryption and to authenticate your web site with VeriSign's FREE guide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/yQix2C/33_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:55 PST