Can liberal internationalism be saved? That is the thought provoking question asked by George Packer in his somewhat over intellectualized and emotional assessment in the New Yorker called Fighting faith. In essence, how can a liberal fight Jihadism?
Every imperial power (US) faces potential threats (jihadism); it is a natural corollary of deploying kinetic forces on every corner of the globe. If America does not have the stomach for it, then its days as a traditional imperial global power are numbered. Intellectualizing the threat by liberals is not going to make it disappear. The fact remains that the Pentagon has been working on a forward containing policy called Full Spectrum Domination. All nihilistic damages caused and forthcoming are a result of the struggle against an American hegemony like the one we currently enjoy in North America, i.e. the civilization (or eradication) of the native cultures by enlightening them with western ideals of democracy and capitalism.
The neo cons favorite ploy is to differentiate the isms, this is a completely new enemy, different from fascism and communism, and of course make the current enemy the ultimate Fu Man Chu. The hot counter insurgencies in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan (and Chechnya and Kashmir for that matter) are inspired by the call to Jihad (strife in face of overwhelming odds) but claims of Al Qaeda being the glue that combines these movements together are over stated. At one point, the Saudi government, hand in hand with Pakistan’s ISI was funding these movements, but now most of that has dried up. What’s left are career guerillas that depend on chaos and displaced individuals who through personal loss or insult have decided on a path of vengeance, like our favorite Dark Knight. Even more then personal injury, the sense of humiliation is the key driver as these foes mainly stem from an honor driven tribal code of conduct.
I have just finished General Giap's People's War People's Army his doctrine for fighting the French and American forces in Vietnam. In his day Gen. Giap was the Osama, Mahdi, Geronimo, John Brown, Qaddafi or what may you call it. His ruthless efficiency in eliminating anyone who opposed him was exactly what catapulted him to the top in Vietnam. The amazing insight he offers is his understanding of the geo-political reality that he fought under, as opposed to the over intellectualized war that the Pentagon was fighting. America's eventual exit was disgraceful for the Military, but it was a triumph for the American people who kept it real in face of the jingoistic saber rattling. In 2006, 30.3 years later, America’s good will ambassador is Bill Gates and the Vietnamese have forgiven all sins committed by the American killers.
The current theatre of operations against the Talibans, mainly Pashtun tribesman along the Pakistan and Afghanistan border, used to a hotbed of surkhais or Marxists in the seventies. Those were the days when Afghanistan was under Daud Khan's socialistic government and Pakistan's second largest party Awami National Party was led by Wali Khan, son of Badshah Khan. The latter Khan was called the Frontier Gandhi, as he launched a red shirt movement for Independence and transformed the unruly Pathans into a force for passive civil disobedience. Even now, a Marxist inspired movement, the Balochistan Liberation Armyf is fighting an asymmetric war with the Pakistan army in Balochistan. There aim is for a fair revenue share of the natural gas resources of the province which Islamabad has greedily devoured for the last fifty years. Unfortunately, the powers that be, i.e. the Americans, are more interested in Operation Capture Osama, rather then press Pakistan on empowering the locals. Given the geo-political significance of that region, the first order of business should be to make friends and send a message of hope; instead the Pakistan army is fighting an increasingly unpopular war in Wana at the behest of their American masters. One of the tactics employed is straight from the book of the British Raj, flatten seven houses around the house suspected of harboring insurgents. That is a ready made mix for an insurgency, just add Islam.
As for Islamists, left to rot in their own xenophobia they will dry up. However, every action by the US (and Israel) so far has only stoked the flames of anger. Of course, once can’t appease the terrorist, but disengagement is the one method that has proven to be successful in dealing with rebellions, especially when the occupying force are the only real foreign fighters.
