Rule set resets in the Global War on Terrorism
“U.S. Hands Authority To Iraq Two Days Early: Fear of Attacks Hastens Move; Interim Leaders Assume Power,” by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post, 29 June, p. A1.
“Iraq’s New History: Only Iraqis can reclaim their country from the purveyors of terror,” by Fouad Ajami, Wall Street Journal, 29 June, p. A14.
“High Court Backs Detainees’ Right to Challenge U.S.: In a Blow to Bush Policy, Ruling Says Terror Suspects Are Entitled to Hearings,” by Robert S. Greenberger and Jess Bravin, WSJ, 29 June, p. A1.
“14 Afghans Are Killed for Registering to Vote: Taliban suspected of killings in a bid to scuttle elections,” David Rohde, New York Times, 28 June, p. A3.
“U.S. Resumes Ties With Libya: Relations Renewed After 24 Years,” by Peter Slevin, WP, 29 June, p. A15.
The U.S. slips the reins of power into the hands of Iraqi leaders, and a new rule set is born in the Middle East—an evil regime decapitated and a new state resurrected by an outside coalition of states led by the United States. What legacies does this create? In my mind, the good ones will win out over time, and the bad ones will only lead to further tumult in the region—also to the Core’s advantage. The only that I am certain will not work to our—and the region’s ultimate—advantage is things staying exactly as the same as before. By going into Iraq a lot will necessarily change in that region—out of hatred for us and what we’re trying to do, out of fear of what we might yet do, and out of the hope that this time real reform may stick.
Iraqis will have to fight for their own state in the end, and the enemies of this fledgling state know that time is not on their side, so they might as well go for broke.
These are the words of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi cited in Ajami’s op-ed:
“America is being bloodied in Iraq but has no intention of leaving, no matter the bloodletting among its own soldiers. It is looking to a near future, when it remains safe in its bases, while handing over control to a bastard government with an army and a police force . . . There is no doubt that our field of movement is shrinking and our future looks more forbidding by the day.”This is why Zarqawi puts it all on the line: because the alternative is “packing our bags and looking for a new field of battle, as has been the case in other campaigns of jihad, because our enemy grows stronger with each passing day.”
Zarqawi believes that enemy is the United States, but he is underestimating his foe. It is really the spread of globalization, a far more powerful and relentless opponent.
Other rule sets being adjusted in this global war on terrorism: the Supreme Court saying that even terrorist suspects have rights, meaning the GWOT involves the extension of rules or its accomplishes nothing at all.
Why? Because the rules matter. They matter when registering to vote is enough to get you killed. Amazing huh? Never happened here, did it?
Again, there is nothing inside the Gap that we can locate within ourselves, our past, our memories, which makes this effort not just a sacrifice for the sake of others, but a revalidation of who were are as a society.
Deals along the way? You bet. Some stinky? As far as I’m concerned, too many are way too stinky, like pretending Qaddafi is back among the respectable. But you pick your battles, you set your schedule, you plot for success at every earliest tipping point, meaning there’s a time for everything and everyone.