The economics of humanity
By Shaukat QadirUnfortunately, while Americans are very likeable people in person, collectively they display appalling arrogance and indifference to the lives of others that can only result in the increasing worldwide animosity to what the US stands for today
Policies need to have an aim. Policymakers are then given a timeframe to achieve that aim before a workable strategy can be formulated to achieve the stated objective.
On numerous occasions and in a variety of contexts, analysts have pointed out that the military is only one of the many organs of a state, and that recourse to the military to achieve an aim of the state is usually the last choice after all other possibilities have been exhausted. In such a situation, as the military is being asked to accomplish a task that the state has not been able to through other means, it is essential that the political objective of the state be clearly spelled out. In all courses taught on military and operational strategy, this is a stated prerequisite. Having received a political aim, it is then up to the military to identify a military aim, which will help achieve the former. It can then work out appropriate strategies.
To illustrate with an example; if the political purpose of the US invasion of Iraq was to depose Saddam, put into place a popular government more friendly to the US and/or then gain access to Iraqi oil, the military aim might have read something like this: while ensuring the safety of the people of Iraq and winning their support, overthrow and capture Saddam Hussein, so as to assist in emplacing a government that enjoys the support and confidence of the people.
How differently then would the war in Iraq have been fought? The allied forces may have suffered a greater number of casualties from Saddam supporters in the early days but by now there would have been an Iraqi peoples government and peace. Furthermore, the US oil companies would have been making billions through the uninterrupted flow of oil, instead of being sabotaged by Iraqi freedom fighters; and there would not have been the constant loss of American lives.
However, if the political purpose of the war was to subjugate the hostile population of Iraq which, individually or collectively, posed a threat to American citizens, then the military aim would, as it has shown, have no concern for the civilian population of Iraq and would be prepared for the long-drawn conflict with Iraqi freedom fighters, which is precisely the current situation. A parallel example can be found in Afghanistan.
The object of this rather lengthy premise is to raise a simple question: what is the political purpose of George W Bush war on terror? There can be only one reasonable answer: peace, because if that is not the answer then we are faced with a self-perpetuating and unending conflict. Once this question is answered, it becomes fairly obvious that those who we refer to as terrorists probably have a very strong sense of ill-usage which causes them to accept death only to make themselves visible. It is also obvious that further repression and the killing of innocent people as collateral damage will only swell the ranks of the terrorists.
A possible method of differentiating between these terrorists is to break them into three categories: those of yesterday, who have already committed crimes against humanity; those of today, who are ready willing and able to do so; and those of tomorrow, who might swell their ranks, given the opportunity.
If that is the case then, while those of yesterday deserve to be punished, it might be possible to address their grievances simultaneously so as to prevent some of those who fall into the category of todays terrorists from doing so and to definitely put a lid on those who might join them tomorrow.
Unfortunately, while Americans are very likeable people in person, collectively they display appalling arrogance and indifference to the lives of others that can only result in increasing worldwide animosity to what the US stands for today. Consequently, their conduct can only increase the reprisals and we, the citizens of Pakistan, are directly facing the wrath of those antagonised by the Americans and are paying the price of their actions. We are being held hostage by suicide bombers while our political landscape is manipulated to suit Bushs continuation of a self-perpetuating war. It is a question of the economics of humanity: how many people must continue to die on both sides before better sense prevails?
The author is a retired brigadier. He is also former vice president and founder of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI)
