Terrorism As Tactics

This article got me thinking a little bit about the effectiveness of terror attacks. Like Iraq, the escalation of attacks by Taliban against Pashtun civilians in Afghanistan is turning the population against the Taliban.

Fact is, terrorism as a defensive or offensive tactic is fairly limited. Not unlike the Option or the Wildcat in college football, it can throw the other team off for a little bit, but if used exclusively, is not a sustainable recipe for success. Terrorism IS effective when used as a surprise and can get a minority or powerless group immediate attention. It is a good offensive weapon for the weak against the strong, because it inevitably requires greater cost to combat than it takes to execute.

Terrorism - like anything else - works better when backed up with a strong or appealing ideological message. Problem for these Islamic Radicals - long term - is that their message has failed to take hold in every single country they've tried selling it to. And they've been trying for 50 years, long before 9/11. It failed dramatically in Egypt and mildly in Saudi Arabia. It failed in Jordan. The only places it's taken hold and stuck are parts of Lebanon, Iran, some Palestinian territories, and Afghanistan. But in none of those places is it widely popular except in parts of Lebanon and Gaza - very small areas - and most likely only popular as a reaction to various wars against Israel.

We must remember, the best weapon against these nutjobs is themselves. We need to give them enough rope to hang themselves. For them, it's simply a race for the clock. Can they get hold of powerful enough deterrent technology or powerful enough offensive technology to inflict irreparable damage on the West while maintaining a small, but loyal following before they are completely wiped out. That is the question.

This is their only recourse and why it is so important to delay their acquisition of game-changing technology.