Our Allies' Take on Terrorism

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From the U.N. general Assembly Meeting today.....

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai:

Military action in Afghanistan alone, therefore, will not deliver our shared goal of eliminating terrorism. We must destroy terrorist sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan, dismantle the elaborate networks in the region that recruit, indoctrinate, train, finance, arm and deploy terrorists. We must ensure that political currents and entities in the region are not allowed to use extremism as an instrument of policy.

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf:

While we confront terrorism, our strategy must seek to eliminate this phenomenon comprehensively. We cannot do so unless we understand and address the root causes of terrorism today. How are terrorists able to find willing recruits even among educated youth and democratic societies? The reasons are clear. Across the Muslim world, old conflicts and new campaigns of military intervention have spawned a deep sense of desperation and injustice. Each new battleground involving an Islamic state has served as a new breeding ground for extremists and terrorists. Indiscriminate bombings, civilian casualties, torture, human rights abuses, racial slurs and discrimination only add to the challenge of defeating terrorism.


Jordan’s King Abdullah:

There can be no just global order when aggression and occupation are permitted to take the place of international law. When these occur in a region as strategic as the Middle East the shockwaves run worldwide. Our youth are asking, where is the justice, where is the will of the global community? We must answer them by establishing a lasting peace, based on the international legality we have pledged to uphold.

Looks like these guys have an understanding of what it's really going to take to stop terrorism. They realize bombing the crap out of a population only creates more terrorists. Sadly, our leaders don't have the capacity for or won't accept this type of common sense wisdom....and it's not as profitable.

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[Wu Wei]

I agree with Karzai, Musharref sounds like he's looking for money, Abdullah sounds like he is leaving room for agencies support terrorists. (As if world opinion and the UN are aren't played like a fiddle all-to-often.) Collateral damage and the like are tools of the terrorist. If we vow not to harm any civilians and to always honor "world opinion" the bad guys operate freely. The terrorists consciously manipulate appearances, hide among civilians, and border-hop. I hate that it happens, but what are we going to do besides face it head on?

It's like in Vietnam, how the NVA would put AA-emplacements on hospitals to fight the air war. On the ground they would raid, then hop across the border into Cambodia. You try to hit them when they are empty or you let them shoot at your planes all day - either way thay have gained short-term by exploiting their people ruthlessly. Sooner or later people will see who is worse, us or them.