The following is a re-post of my posting on A.G.W.
A Pragmatist/Cynical Perspective: Warning, Wall Of Text to follow
1st a disclaimer of sorts: The following is an attempt at analysis, and is therefeore entirely devoid of any sentiment whatsoever. But before anyone accuses me of being a heartless unfeeling bastard, understand that I'm a New Yorker who LOVES
NYC more than any other place in the world, and have been deeply affected by the devastation and loss of life. However, in this, I've tried to divorce my emotions from the subject at hand.
Firstly, let us be clear - last week's attack was not on the U.S per se - this was an attack on the New Global Economy.
After all, the primary target was the World (Global) Trade (economy) Center (major target). What we have here are actions by
countries/groups/individuals who are opposed to this Global Economy, and wish to be removed/set apart/be isolated from it.
Well, as beasts go the World Economy is relatively benign - it tolerates all kinds of differences. However, it has one overriding Commandment: "THOU SHALT PARTICIPATE". The world IS being remade as we live and breathe, and the last 15 years, with the demise of the Soviet Bloc and the economic opening of China, are an object lesson to all. AT this point, the New Global Economy isn't even that new - it is an INEVITABILITY. The Communications Revolution, among other factors, has made this one a sure bet. This is obviously a HUGE threat to those who wish to be insulated from the influences of the World at large, and huddle in their own religious/cultural/national/racial corner. The Taliban is clearly one of the more extreme manifestations of this desire, but they are far from alone - the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and the establishment of the
"Islamic Republic" heralded this movement back in 1979. What we have here is even larger than the "War of Islam vs Democracy" that the media has started to crow about in the past week. What we have is nothing less than a PARADIGM WAR. The Global Economy, being the New Paradigm, is being targeted by the forces of the Old (national/religious/regional/racial) Paradigm. As such, this is bound to be a rather painfull and protracted affair - the boys will NOT be home by Xmas, people
I expect this conflict to take a GENERATION or two, before the dust finally settles - possibly as long as it took Capitalism to defeat State Communism. The sad thing is that the Old Paradigm has already LOST, and they KNOW it. The mere fact that these latest attacks were SUICIDE attacks, and the fact that suicide attacks in general have risen sharply over the last few years, demonstrates this. No matter how much religious indoctrination & fervor, our 1st prority as individuals is always Survival, and giving up one's life in this way pre-supposes a cetrain amount of desperation and hopeless defiance. Allow me to draw a parallel to the Kamikaze phenomenon: By the time the Kamikaze appeared, the war was well & truly lost for Japan. Well, the war was lost for the forces of the Old Paradigm before a shot was fired, but that doesnt mean that, like the Kamikaze, they wont at least try to take a lot of us with them
Which brings me to my second point: how will this war be fought, and how should the United States, being the formost enforcer of the New World Economic Order, go about fighting it? Clearly the old "War of nation-states" paradigm is nigh useless in this - there is no standing army over yonder hill for us to kick the crap out of. At the same time, we as a nation are more
vulnerable to attack than ever, for the same reasons that dictate that we will eventually win this war: the Communications/Technology Revolution and our open, individual freedom loving way of life. So how do we proceed?
To begin with, whatever action we take has to be EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE. Meaning that whatever we do better severely decrease the chances of successful terrorist attacks such as last week's. Any ineffective "gestures" will only get more of our people killed. Secondly, the Massive Military Option, especially the Nuclear response that I've seen being called for by some, is VERY unlikely, for two reasons: one is the lack of definite "hard" targets, and two is the massive loss of life, and therefore potential customers. Dead people don't buy Reeboks. So I expect to see "surgical" military operations ( Air and Ground/SpecFor both) systematically applied, alongside MASSIVE econo-political operations. Serious thought will also have to be given to "Home Defense", as demonstrated by the new office of Home Security recently established.
My point is, this is most certainly a War, and it will be a long war, and there will be casualties, of all kinds. But, the outcome has never been in doubt, the Global Economy will win this one hands down.
My second point is that while Patriotism & flag-waving is all well and good for the morale, it is rather misplaced - after all I'm not going to wave the General Foods company flag, are you? So in my view, all this bad feeling and acrimony that i've seen here of late is not only sad and divisive, it's simply off-target.
