US-British War on Terror Backfires: Think Tank
The US-led and British-backed war on terror is only fuelling more violence by focusing on military solutions rather than on root causes, a think tank warned Wednesday.”The ‘war on terror’ is failing and actually increasing the likelihood of more terrorist attacks,” the Oxford Research Group said in its study, titled “Beyond Terror: The Truth About The Real Threats To Our World.”
It said Britain and the United States have used military might to try to “keep the lid on” problems rather than trying to uproot the causes of terrorism.
It said such an approach, particularly the 2003 invasion of Iraq, had actually heightened the risk of further terrorist atrocities on the scale of September 11, 2001.
“Treating Iraq as part of the war on terror only spawned new terror in the region and created a combat training zone for jihadists,” the report’s authors argued.
It pointed out that the Islamist Taliban movement is now resurgent, six years after it was overthrown in 2001 by the US-led invasion in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
“Sustainable approaches” to fighting terrorism would involve the withdrawal of US-led forces from Iraq and their replacement with a United Nations stabilisation force, it said.
It also recommended the provision of sustained aid for rebuilding and developing Iraq and Afghanistan as well as closing the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where most suspects are held without charge or trial.
And it called for a “genuine commitment to a viable two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
The study warned that military intervention in Iran over its nuclear ambitions would be “disastrous,” calling instead for a firm and public commitment to a diplomatic solution.
Iran insists the programme is peaceful, despite claims from Washington that it masks a drive for nuclear weapons.
The study also said the British government’s plans to upgrade the submarine-based Trident nuclear deterrent could produce international instability.
“Nuclear weapon modernisation is likely to serve as a substantial encouragement to nuclear proliferation as countries with perceptions of vulnerability deem it necessary to develop their own deterrent capabilities,” it said.
Copyright © 2007 AFP.
The so-called “war on terror” obviously needs to have a robut “soft power” component. “Hard power” bullets and bombs are not the only methods that can be effective.
And, as the article notes, hard power can be very counterproductive in many ways.
Soft power can include diplomacy, information operations, constructive psychological operations, education and similar activities. Even unconventional methods can be useful as can lessons from history.
For more on this, check out:
“Unconventional Human Intelligence Support: Navy SEAL’s report”
PopulistAmerica.com
January 7, 2007
http://www.populistamerica.com/unconventional_human_intelligence_support
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“Eastwood, Spielberg: One More Iwo Jima Film”
PopulistAmerica.com
April 4, 2007
http://www.populistamerica.com/eastwood_spielberg_one_more_iwo_jima_film
Okay, I hate to sound like “I told you so” but everyone with a brain who I talked to back when the idea of invading Iraq was being “debated” seemed to understand that this would backfire, would invite nothing but greater hatred of the US. War has a way of doing that, you know.
The neo-con project of global American hegemony and the declared justification for war in the interest of securing “strategic resources” (oil) were no secrets. It was always quite clear that this had nothing to do with the “War on Terror” and everything to do with grabbing up oil before China, India, France or anybody else could do deals with Saddam. So having invaded and occupied Iraq and bringing nothing but chaos and slaughter, yeah, they hate our guts. And a whole new generation got to experience first hand the utter brutality of the US of A.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there cannot be a military solution to the problem of “terror.” The neocon strategy is like a Chinese finger trap in that the harder you fight, the worse the situation becomes. “Terrorism” is the result of injustice. The only solution is to address the root causes and to work with other countries via interpol to round up true internatioanl criminals.
The neocon goal has nothing to do with fighting terrorism and everything to do with fomenting “war without end” because the National Security State is the politial arm of the military industrial complex and the weapons producers. It’s in their interest and really, it’s all they have to offer to keep a sinking economy afloat.
This article really doesn’t get to the root of the issue at all. The whole “war on terror” is pretty much a continuation of, and about as a bogus as, the “Cold War”. Recall Colin Powells cry of dismay, back in 1991, that “we’re running out of boogeymen!” The Soviet Union never wanted to take over the world, and third-world countries trying to free themselves from economic colonialism and willing to give socialism a try, weren’t a “global communist conspiracy”. It never existed.
But, boy-oh-boy was the Cold War profitable to the US “defense” industry! So, they invented the “war on terror”.
This is not to say that there aren’t some pretty high order international criminals out there but like JP said, getting them is police work, and invasion of sovereign states in response is so breathtaking illogical that the real motivation should be clear for all to see. Thes motivation is, of course, the “defense” industry - the only industry left in the US. I assume everyone here has seen the documentary “Why We Fight”.
The U.N. has no interest in bailing out the Bush administration’s current debacle in Iraq. In principle, they were against the war in Iraq from the beginning and are likely privately elated that this form unilateralism has fallen flat on its face. Thanks to Bush, the war on terrorism has been downgraded to just saving face rather than speading democracy at gunpoint.
don’t we need to hurry up and bomb all the major us cities where the mafia have organizations? if we hurry maybe they won’t hit us here.
There is no “War on Terror” You cannot have a “war” against a tactic. The hopeless use terror tactics when all else has failed.
This is a war for oil and other finite resources. Why else did Bush tell the Iraqi people to not blow up oil pipelines and wells and then allowed the looting of the world’s history?
Saddam Hussein was going to open an oil bourse using Euros instead of American dollars and that is why he had to go.
Bush/cheney do not bvelieve in democracy. They are an evil pair here to take everything they can to further enrich themselves and their criminal corporate pals.
Amens to PJD and Kittyladydragon!–
What is significant about this article is that the think-tank world is rejecting this current tactic. These beasties (the think tanks are those to which I refer)are from where future policy proposals come. Once the establishment is no longer behind you it is like a vautionary light. When they go from indifference to rejection watch out.
Well, lets put it this way. withdraw from Iraq, have the UN peacekeeper take over and have them send the bill of clean up and reconstruction to the U.S. After all, the U.S. invaded Iraq without having the approval of the U.N security organization. They were voted “no” for invasion.
How many more think tanks are going to proudly announce their research shows WHAT WE HAVE KNOWN AND HAVE BEEN SCREAMING ABOUT FOR FIVE YEARS????
Hey, you, with the new old report - just toss it over there on the pile…
Major problem. Forty or more years of sucking up, slithering and enabling have left us with no very visible political organization to either mouths the sage words of people like PJD. In fact the workings of the “Democratic” Party take people who are concerned, even somewhat informed, and make sure they never see the real contexts of our problems, nor draw the right conclusions. Illusionists, they are.
Their job is to keep activists occupied…and compliant. Their job is to make sure there no one properly informed, organized, or funded enough to RESIST those who are hijacking our nation.
Who will ever bring up the question of who is the greatest arms trading nation in the world? Who will dare attempt to question if any of our foreign policy might resemble “terrorism” to others? Who will ask how Congress allowed our industries and jobs to be sent overseas without our input? The Dems won’t — ever. They pass out salve, but hold NO answers.
Bitter as it is to take, Progressives MUST get off Democrat-addiction if there is to ever be meaningful change.
It took us decades to go so far down this dead-end lane of non-participation in our own self-governance. The way out will take more than phone calls and bumper stickers.
Sorry, America: there ARE NO easy answers. Dealing with this mess is our REAL “911″ wake-up call.
Time for the Spirit of ‘76, not the Spin of ‘08.
.”The ‘war on terror’ is failing and actually increasing the likelihood of more terrorist attacks,” the Oxford Research Group said in its study, titled “Beyond Terror: The Truth About The Real Threats To Our World.”
No kidding? You didn’t know this would happen if Iraq was invaded?
What the hell do think tanks think about while they’re supposedly thinking?
Why, their funding sources, of course!
I read the first 13 comments, and mostly you guys sound like a bunch of cop-outs — guys who want to cop out and think it’s easy. You talk about “root causes” — vaguely — but don’t say what you think are the “root causes.” What do you think was the root cause of 9/11? What do you think is the root cause of the shiites and the sunnis blowing each other’s asses up in Iraq? What do you think is the root cause of Khaled Mashaal or Ahmed Yassin vowing war to the death, eternally, with Israel until it’s destroyed? So, you think all we’ve got to do is get out of Iraq and let the U.N. take over, do you? All we’ve got to do is come up with a fair, two-state solution for the Jews and Arabs in the holy land, right? No, that’s not right. Think again.
This war has never been about “terror.” It’s about global hegemony, and it’s doing exactly what the neocons et al wanted; destabilize, breed fear, feed the military industrial complex, etc. The war on terror is a red herring, a lovely fiction created by fascist theorists, in a tradition of fascist scapegoating to generate nationalism, fear, etc. It seems to me that a solution is to simply stop feeding the machine…buy less, use less, reuse, make friends, grow food, refuse to polarize, pay less taxes, starve the government corporate coffers.
Mel - So, what do you think are the “root causes” of the current state of world affairs? What do you see as possible solutions?
about the soviets not wanting to take over the world…tell that to the people of eastern europe or south korea..true the u.s. is always needing enemies,but to say that russia was or is an imaginary threat is silly,they kept us honest,problem when the soviets fell apart,it was only a matter of time that us as the only “superpower would over reach
The root causes are deep in parts of human nature which we have not, collectively, outgrown…yet. Solutions? I think they are to be found in our everday lives. Political solutions simply perpetuate a paradigm which doesn’t create sustainability. The more people just live as they really want to, or work (and I don’t mean on the hampster wheel) towards that, the better. Solutions are to be found in growing food, which saves in trucking and fuel, connects people to earth and to each other, is better for the soil, etc. Solutions are to be found in participating in community even with people you disagree with, and finding common ground. Solutions are to be found in our own personal learning to see how projecting our emotional spiritual baggage onto others polarizes and perpetuate a life of fear which makes one susceptible to being manipulated by media, consumerism, etc. Solutions are to be found in identifying and growing beyond our individualism into a healthy organic collectivism that is concensus based and which seeks to empower, not to create drones and followers. I could go on and on, but you get the point, right? We can change this by really choosing to be our most intelligent, compassionate, creative, honest selves.
It’s about time that someone with “acceptable credentials”
is given a little media space to express the perfectly obvious! We need a groundswell of public opinion to change the mode of thought about the neocon mess and to get back on track so we can deal with the real root causes of terrorism, and start to deal with poverty around the world instead of talking about “spreading democracy” when what they really mean is “market democracy,” or let’s bleed the rest of the world for all they’ve got!