Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Fighting to lose: how not to fight fascism
Someone needs to write a book about the incompetent warring in the Middle East
by Ferdinand III
When the knuckle-dragging neo-cons warned that not fighting the Iraqi war like it is a real war, but to focus instead on winning hearts and minds; build public toilets and worry about securing the country until Iraqi troops were trained; they were dismissed as heartless war-mongers. When the neo-cons warned that not sealing off the border invites Syrian and Iranian interference in the struggling Iraqi democracy they were told that too few troops existed – they were too busy apparently in the barracks, or handing out candy. When the neo-cons warned that not destroying Fallujah and Najaf immediately with overwhelming might would lead to an increase in civil strife, they were dismissed as blood-thirsty anti-Islamics since ‘innocents’ would be killed. When the neo-cons warned that not killing Al Sadr the leader of a 20.000 man Shia army and not destroying the infrastructure and leaders of the key militia groups would lead to a civil war, they were informed that political processes would be much nicer and kinder.
And on it goes. One could add a dozen more sorry tales of how not to fight a war from the current Iraqi imbroglio. Add Lebanon and Afghanistan to the mixture and one gets a decidedly negative impression of cowardice and incompetence from the US and whatever other ‘Allied’ forces are engaged in fighting. The ineptitude in all three theatres is colossal and the Muslims have grinningly taken notice.
Iraq is now engaging in talks with 2 powers – Syria and Iran – that want to carve it up. Iran has publicly stated that it wants the destruction of Israel and the Anglo-Saxon powers, and Syria is openly funding Hizbollah a proxy agent dedicated to the dismemberment of Israel and poised to attack US assets in the Middle East and beyond. What is there to negotiate with these two countries? Maybe the terms of a US surrender in Iraq or the details of how to stage a second holocaust in Israel? Why on earth is the US and the Iraqi government of Maliki trying diplomacy to force the Iranians and Syrians to stop funding the terrorist and sectional conflict in Iraq that may well destroy the country? The answer is that it is the easy way out. Instead of displaying ruthlessly effective force in Iraq and showing Syria and Iran that they are next, it is quicker, more appealing to the ‘public’ and acceptable to the media, to discuss with these two fascist states, the terms of a US surrender in a country that has consumed 2900 US soldiers lives, and about $600 billion in money.
In Afghanistan a paltry 20.000 NATO troops are deployed or about half what is necessary. Only 2.300 Canadians are doing any real fighting alongside the US forces. The rest of the NATO alliance mission is safely barracked away from the fighting against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. The great preoccupation of the 300 Dutch soldiers is whether or not prostitutes should be flown in from Amsterdam. How then is NATO still a useful organization? European NATO countries including Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Holland are doing nothing in Afghanistan. If Europe does not have a military force projection capability, what then does NATO purport to be if nothing more than another multi-lateral gabfest in which all nations support the extravagantly expensive organization until it comes time to let the rubber hit the road and deploy troops in a war zone? Afghanistan might well fall into civil strife or Talibanic control over key provinces in the southern part of the country thanks to NATO perfidy and cowardice in not putting enough men there to eradicate the terrorists and secure the country.
Lebanon is another case example of weak-kneed Western posturing. Israel’s lackluster military adventure last summer, in which it imitated American incompetence in Iraq, reveals just how fixated the West is on media adulation; reducing injuries; and appeasing terrorism. You can only win against a fascism, by destroying its leadership cadre and eliminating all state, geographic, military and infrastructural support. Apparently the leaders of Israel’s defense forces thought that casual bombing, ad hoc forays, and baseless threats were enough to decimate Hizbollah. As predicted they were wrong. Hizbollah is as strong as ever and its supplies, armaments and military capability while impacted by the past war, are not seriously deranged.
So what is the result of the above? A strutting and confident Islamic fascism is the main result in Lebanon and elsewhere. While the UN play-acts at trying to stem the flow of weapons into Lebanon, the Lebanese themselves are getting ready for war. Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Beri recently stated that Lebanon is the place where the ‘American and the Zionist entity’ will meet with defeat, and said that ‘political developments in the region and the world confirm that a new phase has begun.’ He has stated further that ‘America's policy in the region and the world is on the brink of defeat...’ He has good reason to be so smug. Lebanon since the time of Arafat has been a terrorist controlled state. That power, with the disintegration of Iraq and the increasing wealth and confidence of Iran and Syria, will only grow.
In Afghanistan NATO hides from its responsibility and expects the small Canadian army along with 15.000 US troops to do all the fighting. With Iraq, Europe sits inert, either too afraid or too gleeful to aid the Americans in restoring sanity to a critical country with geopolitical relevance far in excess of its size. In Iraq the US barracks most of its troops; refuses to fight the war to win; and now bumbles around looking to cut deals with Syria and Iran and exit as fast as possible. In Lebanon we have the French and Spanish warning Israel that they will attack the Israeli air-force if bombardment campaigns are not halted. The EU and the UN have done little to secure the borders with armaments and supplies, in contravention of the cease-fire, continuing to pour into Lebanon, but that is a secondary concern to appease their Islamic voters and show support for their ‘Arab friends’. In general we have chaos in our 3 major Middle Eastern war zones.
We live in a very hypocritical and dangerous world. The fact that the West, whether in the nakedly hostile French or Spanish guise, or in the ostensibly ‘realistic’, somewhat belligerent British and American variety, is succumbing to appeasement; stupidity or the tried and true impulse of ‘blame the Jews’ is monumentally staggering. Losing in the Middle East which a divided West, abetted by international institutions such as NATO or the UN, appears to be doing, will long presage a more resounding and bloody defeat elsewhere at the hands of fascistic Islam.
But of course we neo-cons are absurdly stupid. Just don’t cry when the truth collides with reality.