A terrorist is a criminal using terrorism as a tactic to manipulate the behavior of a target population. To call a criminal a terrorist is to acknowledge their success and admit your terror. Such a reward will encourage further criminal behavior. Such a reward lifts criminal behavior upward to tactical behavior and lifts criminals upward, out of the gutter and onto the sidewalk where you are. Criminals they are. Crimes they commit. Gutter is their place.
To hijack an aircraft is a crime. To commandeer that aircraft and use it as a missile to destroy property and kill people is a crime. An organization which conspires with and directs perpetrators to commit such crimes is a criminal organization. But not when they act against the United States. In that country, perpetrators are enemy combatants and their actions are acts of war and their leaders command a virtual state. The wholesale destruction of property and mass killings are noble acts of war. The shock and awe of the criminal assault against the United States on 11 September 2001 set the population prone to manipulation by fear. The trauma was so overwhelming that the Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States ran away and hid in bunkers for nearly twelve hours before reporting to his duty station. The population was so apoplexed and fraught with fear that a military response and shield were the only palliative ideas.
A practical cause and a psychological cause and a political cause warn strongly against declaring a war which can exist only in the imagination of those who want that war. The practical cause is concisely explained by analogy: To dispatch military forces against criminals is like trying to swat a fly with a sledge hammer and the results are similar too. Criminals do not hold land. They use your land. They operate in secret and quickly vacate any location when challenged. To understand the psychological cause, weigh the differences in view between a criminal committing crimes and a combatant engaging in acts of war. To perceive the political cause, envision the differences between the presence of foreign investigators and intelligence gatherers and criminal justice officials compared to the presence of foreign troops who invade and occupy land under the aegis of an imaginary war. In current time, consider the invasion and occupation of generally Muslim lands by generally Christian troops.
Sending christian troops to invade and occupy muslim countries promoted criminals cum soldiers to jihadis. Holy warriors are eager to serve. They want to defend their homeland and their religion. They want to protect family friend and community. Criminals are not so eager to pledge allegiance to a crime boss yet alone die for one. Ideological struggle of the twenty first century is just a euphamism for what Islam knows are christian v muslim wars. Islamic extremism radicalism terrorism and other isms all contain the word Islam. Spoken and written so often, Islam incurs the invectives.
The place for violence is directly in the path of violence oncoming. All else is criminal. On 9/11/2001 the people of the United States were assaulted by 19 murderers who were directed and supported by a criminal organization. No army was amassed against the United States and no State had declared war. Like many criminal organizations, the one that planned and financed the horrendous crime against America on 9 11 2001 had secured a safe haven for itself by corrupting a governing regime with funding and with armed support. Criminals are not Muslim or Christian or Jew. Criminals are not American or Iranian. They are just criminals. Organized criminals are street gangs that vary only in level of sophistication. Criminal justice officials and agents and police and strike teams and investigators and intelligence gatherers and field experts and forensic teams are not invading and occupying armies. They are just the right people doing the right job for all persons who acknowledge the value of law and the imprimatur of justice and the importance of enforcement.
On 09 11 2001, Al Qaeda was not quite so powerful as some criminal organizations and even some street gangs could boast of having as many members and even greater potential impacts upon societies they infest. Declaring war promoted criminals to the rank of soldier and an egregious, horrific crime became a noble act of war. Declaring war promoted a criminal organization to a virtual State and a criminal mastermind became a president and commander in chief.
Terrorists do not differ from criminal killers and organized terror does not differ from organized crime. Yet George W. Bush pardoned the criminals who assaulted his people and promoted them to the rank of enemy combatant. He pardoned an egregious criminal assault and elevated the crime to an act of war. He promoted the al Qaeda criminal organization to the rank of State Actor and granted legitimacy of cause in place of criminal excuse. By his own behavior, he made it possible for criminal organizations to recruit operatives using the same appeals that nations use to recruit soldiers. A poignant point also set by recent history is that when hijacking aircraft and using them to murder people is not a crime, then unwarranted secret surveillence and wiretapping and kidnapping and indeterminate detention without charge and torture and ignoring international conventions and treaties and the invasion cum occupation cum domination of non belligerent non threatening countries are not crimes. Add to that list sniping and exploding and rocketing and mortaring and poisoning and more which become noble acts of war. An all too real danger in hiding behind your military forces is forgetting that terrorists are hiding there with you. Even having the greatest military force and criminal justice system and public safety systems and surveillence systems and intelligence gathering on earth, more than fifteen thousand murders are committed inside the United States every year.
On 09 11 2001, Al Qaeda was not quite so powerful as some criminal organizations and even some street gangs could boast of having as many members and even greater potential impacts upon societies they infest. Declaring war promoted criminals to the rank of soldier and an egregious, horrific crime became a noble act of war. Declaring war promoted a criminal organization to a virtual State and a criminal mastermind became a president and commander in chief.
Read President Osama bin Laden to study the irony.
Nearly every country on earth would have granted the full power and resources of their own criminal justice systems and intelligence gatherers in support of an effort by the United States to locate, detain and try the leadership and operatives of al Qaeda and subordinate groups and other criminal organizations across the globe. Recruiting would have been difficult for a band of world reviled killers. They might attract some desperate or dead end criminals. Operations would have been difficult given low level criminals for operatives. Most of their effort and resources would have to be spent avoiding capture instead of committing crimes. Even corrupted regimes in some countries might choose to deny them safe haven. The amassed, organized, well informed, coordinated and energized array of criminal justice professionals and relevant experts working together across hundreds of borders could have so diminished the opportunities and effectiveness of terrorism that its cost would far surpass its value. By comparison, using military forces to bring criminals to justice is similar to using a sledge hammer to swat flies.
On September 11, 2001, while the people of his nation were under criminal assault and in harms way, George W. Bush ran away to hide in a bunker. His effort was not to lead the people of America or its armed forces but to save himself. His fear of al Qaeda was greater than his confidence in himself and in his country. By hiding himself away in bunkers at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana and Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska for nearly twelve hours he sent a resounding message that greatly discouraged the people of the United States and greatly rewarded and encouraged al Qaeda. Imagine the smile on bin Laden's face when the commander in chief of the world's most powerful military force ran away to hide from him.
By his own behavior, George W. Bush did much worse than become the butt of jokes exchanged between terrorists. He set the example that citizens would follow. They too would let terror have sway, they too would base decisions upon fear, they too would avoid going to their own capitol and to New York City. The most powerful nation on earth had been led to cower. Usama bin Laden has no need to launch another assault. All he has to do is transmit an ominous email or stage a pretended threat to inflict great cost upon America. Without spending a drop of al Qaeda blood, he can cause his enemy to spend millions and billions of dollars and many hundreds or thousands of person hours in futile response. He can lure Americans to places where they are vulnerable and exact a high price of American blood and treasure while spending little of his own. And laugh.
Fear and confusion are the levers a terror strategist can use to manipulate a target population. It works by injecting fear into the decision making process and leaving people confused by insufficient information. A criminal strike is launched to produce horrific results that induce fear. Information of future intent and further capability and possible methods of assault is held close to deprive people of ability to assess risk and make appropriate decisions. If the target yields by making decisions that are based upon fear, another strike is not needed and could even be counter productive. Instead, the mere threat or pretense of another assault can induce even more decisions that are based upon fear and more behavior to fend off imagined and feigned threats. Done skillfully, one criminal assault can produce many cycles of fear and confusion and futile behaviors to fend off imagined and pretended threats that eventually wear down the target and win a concession. George W. Bush led his nation to make decisions based upon fear and deprived his people of information sufficient to evaluate vulnerabilities, assess risk, and base decisions upon their own values and wants instead of upon the fear that he induced.
By depriving people of actionable information about vulnerability and risk the Bush administration enhances the fear and confusion sought by al Qaeda. To manage a vulnerability, a person needs to examine it, learn about it, assess their risk, and use what they can control to manage what they cannot. This procedure removes fear from the process of making decisions. The Bush administration has consistently provided nebulous descriptions of vulnerability and incomplete information about staged threats and deprived the world of information that would facilitate objective study and accurate assessment of risk. That enables the protection game. Elect me because I will protect you. Give me these powers because I will protect you. Let me spend your money because I will protect you. Let me ignore these laws because I will protect you. Let me invade and occupy these countries because I will protect you. Let me torture and kill because I will protect you. Let me stay the course because failure will give haven to al Qaeda.
Bush sends troops into the Middle East to fight a fictitious war and occupy a country that posed no threat. Bin Laden points to those troops and calls for jihad. Bush links Islam with words like fascism, extremism, radicalism and militant. Bin Laden uses Bush's words as evidence of the west warring against Islam. Al Qaeda has never known such popularity as it has now and they are still learning how to use the new strength and legitimacy granted to them. No President has ever before been able to concentrate so much power in the oval office, or spend so much of the peoples wealth without accounting, or violate so many laws with impunity, or abrogate so many international treaties and agreements.
Upon hearing that his nation was under terrorist attack, the immediate response of the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces was to run for his duty station. Upon arrival at the Capitol, he went directly to the Pentagon and held a press conference on the roof. He took full responsibilty for failing to deter the attack and promised to study every possible factor of that failure and get control over every last one. He took full responsibility for every impact the attack would have and could yet have if not tended to carefully and comprehensively. He went on to explain that America has now been called to a type of challenge that it has not ever been called to before. He explained that in such a challenge the goal has nothing to do with territory or anything tangible. "Defending freedom has long meant standing against armed forces that actively threaten our country. The force we must now stand against is the force of fear. Defending your freedom now means keeping it safe within your power of decision and refusing to give up even some small part of your freedom to the fear of what criminals might do. Defending your freedom now relies upon your expense of courage to acquire sufficient information to evaluate your risk and execute your decisions accordingly and resist the fear that criminals hope to inject in your process of making decisions so they can maniplate your behavior. The goal of the challenger is the modification of behavior. To win this challenge, we must not modify our behavior. We can make it better. We can make it stronger. We can make it more effective and more efficient and more reaching. But if we change it, we lose. Whatever way you live your life, live it well. Whatever plans you have, do them well. Whatever was knocked down, put it back up. Whether it be tangible or intangible, if it was knocked down by the enemy, put it back up and do it quickly. So long as America bears the scar of a missing building or a confidence shaken, the terrorist has a mark to brag about. Remove those marks at all haste. I will not allow our fallen citizens or buildings to become some form of encouragement to more terror or a twisted mark of victory for even a single terrorist to point to. I will talk to you again as soon as I get to New York."
In New York, the President held a press conference where he and ground zero could both be seen. He again took full responsibility for failing to prevent the attack. He expressed his grief in losing so many lives. "I will honor the fallen by honoring the lives they wanted to live. I will honor them by promoting and defending the values they lived for and worked for. I will honor their families by keeping their country strong, their paths well guarded, and by doing my part to win this challenge." The President then faced the cameras full on and asked the terrorists to pay attention. "Death is not defeat. Buildings put down will be put back up. You win nothing. In this country, we do not base decisions upon fear. We base decisions upon what we want and upon what we value and upon the wisdom we have earned. If we base a decision upon what your behavior has been or might be, we would bind ourselves to you. We will not be bound to you. We work openly and spend courage. You work in secret and spend fear. Your chosen method of communicating with America was ill advised. Justice has heard you. People have not. Justice is now calling for you. Honor justice by coming openly to face it. Be heard by people. You will dishonor yourselves if you choose not to. That choice will also make it necessary for justice to come to you."
The President knew that it was going to be a difficult task for people to get back on airplanes especially so he held yet one more press conference. This time the location was on board flight 93 as it flew its scheduled route for the first time after the FAA opened up the airways again. He would set a very important example for the population to follow and, at the same time, in a wonderful way, honor the passengers of the last flight 93 who apparently had overwhelmed the terrorists onboard and prevented them from reaching their target.
The people of America rallied behind their leader and followed his examples and his advice. They memorialized their fallen and worked through their grief privately, away from terrorist eyes. They put buildings back up - stronger, taller, better - but back up quickly to cover the wounds, help the country heal, and remove any mark a terrorist could point to. They not only kept their travel plans but planned a bit more, just to make a point. The administration did study every factor that allowed a successful attack and got a good control over every one and gained a wealth of new knowledge and put that to work as well. As knowledge was gained, it was given to the population so people could study their vulnerability and make an accurate assessment of their risk and determine the best course of action for themselves.
No power was given to the terrorists. Not a drop. They not only had to cringe in suffering their failure but had to expend most of their time and resources for doing little more than concealing themselves from the justice that was seeking them out. A justice that now had arms reaching out from nearly every country in the world. With all the lessons learned by America, shared with and learned from other nations, with the admiration and respect of all nations (and terrorists), with the focus of decisions based solely upon free world values, with the skillful application of those lessons enforced by those decisions, the terrorists' thoughts of striking again were relegated to the status of daydreams for now. Terrorists in all camps were seen as they are: criminal thugs and killers no different than a criminal on any street or in any prison anywhere on earth. Governments avoid them. Recruits are hard to enlist. Members are recalcitrant and support is declining. The one government that did abet and shield the criminals was taken down for its criminal behavior. No other government aspired to criminal status. No other government, no people, no land would ever again abet al Qaeda.
"Terrorists are neither citizen nor soldier but criminals
in need of external control and solitude." - Steve Brungard
"Criminals work in secret and spend fear.
Justice works openly and spends courage." - Steve Brungard
On 09 11 2001, George W. Bush was so scared that he ran away and hid in bunkers for nealry twelve hours before reporting for duty in Washington. He made no effort to lead a nation in crisis. He hid himself away and waited for Washington to become a heavily armed garrison before going there. Feeling so threatened and terrified, I am sure the thought of military might was more comforting to George than any other. But armed forces are not the right tool. Criminal organizations do not have to hold ground. Even the virtual State of al Qaeda has no need to hold ground. There is no army to drive off and no ground to hold because criminals and citizens all use the same ground.
On 09 11 2001, the criminal justice and intelligence gathering systems of the United States were much greater in number and more extensible in reach than were the armed forces. They were practiced professional equipped prepared and well supported by any expertise required. Interpol networks the criminal justice and intelligence gatherng systems of more than 120 countries and many of them were equally practiced professional equipped prepared and supported as was the U.S. This massive array of law enforcement officials and intelligence gatherers and investigators and police and special teams and prosecutors and field experts were already in place and one humble appeal would have activated the full force of that array. Instead of a great and violent bully lashing out, the world would have seen the United States as a nation seeking justice and asking for help. Justice officials and investigators are likely more welcome than invading forces, even christian justice officials could be welcomed on muslim ground and given assistance without fomenting a jihad.
Had the criminal justice and intelligence gathering systems been employed, a willing world could have made the cost of terrorism so high that even bin Laden might choose a different tactic if not captured quickly.
The place for violence is directly in the path of violence oncoming. All else is criminal. Speak and write that statement as much and more than (ideological struggle and islamic extremism) have been and instead of. Speak it and write it forcefully and earnestly and stand behind it and support its message with thanks for observence and prosecution for not. Do not promote criminals. Call them the violent scum that they are and make them see your disdain.
Since 09 11 2001, George W. Bush has made many decisions based upon fear. Fear leads to the dark side. He made that point himself. Hide in a bunker instead of providing leadership. Hide behind the military instead of bringing criminals to justice. Foment christian v muslim strife instead of cooperation. Invade Iraq before Iran does. Render and torture people. Violate treaties and laws and your own people. Surely, 16 trillion dollars of oil and 3 trillion dollars of natural gas under Iraqi sand had some influence, but most decisions made by George Bush on and since 9 11 have been based upon fear and continue to be based upon fear that he fervently hopes other people will adopt. Fear that al Qaeda will take Iraq (surely the Iraqi people will give their country and oil and gas to bin Laden). Fear that Iran will invade Iraq or cooperate with Iraq. Fear that people inside the US will do him harm (ergo spy on citizens). Fear of Islam (ergo continue the verbal onslaught and fear mongering).