A rchive Date
[ 27-11-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
|
[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/cockburn.html
A war that is unlike all others
By LYN COCKBURN - Winnipeg Sun
November 27, 2002
At the beginning of the Second World War, there were any number of old-guard officers who didn't quite understand that war had changed, that it had entered a mechanized era which brought with it tanks and other heavy motorized vehicles. More than one officer died, some would say heroically, others would say stupidly, leading their men in doomed cavalry attacks in which, somehow, horses were supposed to win over tanks.
It was of course a sad game which always ended with the same score: horses - 0; tanks - a whole bunch.
And in Vietnam, one side changed the rules again. Where the Americans were convinced might was right, the Northern Vietnamese relied on guerrilla warfare which did not necessitate the transportation of heavy equipment. Instead, it counted on stealth, speed, intimidation and the shock value inherent in not knowing where the enemy was.
Some say it was North Vietnam's proficiency at guerrilla warfare which finally made the difference and pushed the Americans out of Vietnam; others insist that had the White House allowed a full bombing of North Vietnam, the war would have had a different outcome. Either way, nobody would deny the concept of war had changed once more.
But up to and including Vietnam and continuing on into the farce that was the Falklands war and the dramatic blitzkrieg that was the Gulf War, at least there were specific armies, however elusive, to fight in specific countries.
Now we have the war on terrorism - an entirely different kind of war, one in which the web is so tangled, it's difficult to figure out where the spider is hiding. And if the spider's name happens to be Osama bin Laden, he has woven so many webs he could be hiding there, or here. Still in Afghanistan. Maybe in Pakistan. How about Yemen? Maybe the Sudan. What we do know is we haven't caught him.
We also know there are no real armies to fight, no convenient arms dumps to bomb, no large army bases, no battle ships, no tanks in this newfangled war on terrorism.
Instead, there are young men who attend flying schools but only want to learn how to fly and aren't interested in landing. There are mosques in Britain which recruit such young men. There are frightening, elusive figures who preach violence against the West. There are money trails which lead in around and through and over the Middle East and into the United States, Canada and any number of other nations. There are no big cumbersome armies, noticeable by their very size; instead there are groups here, cells there which may exist in Berlin one day and Miami the next.
They are amorphous, without shape or definition.
Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 murderers were from Saudi Arabia - so we will, of course, go to war with Iraq. It is quite probable we will bomb Iraq, do a "regime change," pat ourselves on the back and be quite surprised when the perpetrators of the next terrorist attack (and, yes, folks, it could happen here in Canada), turn out to be from Yemen. Or Bali. Or Saudi Arabia. Maybe Nigeria.
George Bush can spend billions on defence, he can arm the U.S. with state-of-the-art missiles, with high-tech surveillance mechanisms. He can develop the biggest military in the history of the world. And Canada too can spruce up its military, spend more money, buy more helicopters, ships, missiles. But in the end, the conventional war toys, no matter how big, how powerful and how expensive will not help when some young fanatical man slips into Canada or the States with a vial full of some newly developed, anti-biotic-resistant disease. He pours it into the water system of a large city, and all the bombs in the world won't do a thing to stop him. Especially since a mark of most terrorism is that its fanatical proponents are quite willing to die.
It is no longer a case of "He who has the most toys at the end wins." Instead, it's quite possible the big, expensive toys are becoming irrelevant.
Somehow, before it is too late, the generals and the politicians have to agree to totally change their attitude and their tactics in war.
Because in this war on terrorism, we are in danger of riding our horses into a battle that we are as yet not prepared to fight.
Lyn Cockburn can be reached by e-mail at lcockburn@wpgsun.com Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@wpgsun.com
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
|