What Happens Next?

Six options beyond war and peace

Jesse Walker | September 21, 2001

(Page 3 of 3)

"I'll have to think about your answer," said Donaldson. "I don't think the answer was no."

"The answer was that that we ought to be very proud of the record of humanity that we have not used those weapons for 55 years," replied Rumsfeld. "And we have to find as many ways possible to deal with this serious problem of terrorism."

Where Rumsfeld weasels, others step boldly. "At a bare minimum, tactical nuclear capabilities should be used against the bin Laden camps in the desert of Afghanistan," Thomas Woodrow, formerly of the Defense Intelligence Agency, declared in The Washington Times. In the pundit class the talk is even nastier, with Col. David Hackworth among others suggesting that portions of the Middle East should "glow" with radiation.

Maybe they're just bluffing. Maybe they're just trying to convince the world that Americans are batshit crazy when we're mad, and that the terrorists damn well better be scared. The trouble is, they're scaring me too.

* * *

So which path do we take?

I've long opposed American intervention abroad. Self-defense, however, is an entirely different matter. Obviously, the Kojak model is ideal, but I can live with Bronson or Bugs. The important point is to aim our fire at the murderers, not at civilians or at anyone who merely happens to be a usual suspect--and to limit ourselves to a well-defined mission, rather than a vague, all-encompassing "war on terrorism." The Caesar option would lead to further tragedy; the Strangelove path, to utter disaster.

At the same time, we will have to take a hard look at what the pacifists are saying, even if we reject absolute nonviolence. Do we really want to defend a fundamentalist dictatorship in Saudi Arabia? Do we really need to maintain sanctions that have had no effect on Saddam's dictatorship, but have brought death to thousands of Iraqi children? And in that most contentious of Mideastern conflicts, must we tilt so strongly toward Israel, even when it treats Palestinians like second-class citizens or winks at those who steal their water and land? (Spare me your angry e-mails, Israeli partisans: I don't think much of Arafat's brutal Palestinian National Authority either.) This isn't just an issue to grapple with after bin Laden has been captured or killed. It's something to look at now, as we figure out how to fight the terrorists without alienating the Middle Eastern public.

Never before has America's involvement in the Mideast's tribal politics seemed more foolhardy. Now that we're stuck in this tarbaby, we're going to have to fight our way out. But we should think twice before punching any more tarbabies down the road.

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|9.11.11 @ 5:11PM|#

Apart from:

• Whatever authoritarian measures afflict us domestically will be meted out several times over to states abroad, since that will be where most of the actual terrorists live. Dictatorship, of course, is nothing new in the Middle East. But now the governments will be answering to the United States, which can scarcely trust the Taliban to do its terrorist-hunting for it. America will have to act forthrightly as an empire.

These appear to becoming more free.

Crusader|9.9.11 @ 11:48PM|#

Nuke Mecca!

Turn the whole sandbox into a sheet of glass and drill through to the oil.

yonemoto|9.10.11 @ 5:08PM|#

oil's too close to the surface dude, you can put a straw in the sand and black tar will bubble up.

Lester|9.10.11 @ 8:27PM|#

Texas Tea

Earl|9.10.11 @ 8:28PM|#

Black Gold

|9.10.11 @ 8:41AM|#

Sadly, option #5 is the one that has been chosen.

|9.10.11 @ 12:04PM|#

This is the secret thread.

yonemoto|9.10.11 @ 5:09PM|#

truly, the other thread became tiresome. I claim some responsibility. Now I am here to muck up this thread too.

|9.10.11 @ 12:30PM|#

Clearly, we (meaning the Bushitler administration and his democratic catamites -literally?- in congress) chose Caesar. The Constitution was used for toilet paper at the White House.

|9.10.11 @ 12:46PM|#

Prescient indeed, Jesse.

|9.10.11 @ 1:54PM|#

Behold, The Commenters' Inner Sanctum Santorum of Hit & Run!

|9.10.11 @ 8:10PM|#

We need some blink tags up in this bitch; get the freedom started.

Earl|9.10.11 @ 8:32PM|#

Hey heller!

Stop listening to that shitty FAG music!

Here's some Rock n' Roll

Neu Mejican|9.11.11 @ 2:09AM|#

Guitar Wolf: "Love has no borders, nationalities, or genders!"

Wild Zero (2000)

|9.11.11 @ 5:23PM|#

I hope you've renewed your rock and roll license!

SIV|9.10.11 @ 8:35PM|#

Perhaps the Taliban, and their civilian supporters, should have thought about "blow back".

Cliché Bandit|9.12.11 @ 12:41PM|#

for a fleeting second I actually thought Yonemoto was commenting 10 years ago.

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