|
In this
issue:
World War IV: The Long
Struggle Against Islamofascism
(Normal Podhoretz)
September 11th in
historical context
The Five Front War: The
Better Way to Fight Global Jihad (Daniel
Byman)
A new way to fight the
'war on terror'
 World
War IV: The Long Struggle Against
Islamofascism
Normal
Podhoretz
World War IV
is the first serious effort to set the
events of September 11 into a broad
historical context.
Debunking the
revolutionary thesis – that the Bush
administration has acted unlike any
before, waging pre-emptive war,
alienating allies, acting outside the
remit of international law - by
highlighting the tradition formed by the
declared aims of the presidents who led
America into the three world wars – is
rather revolutionary in itself.
Norman Podhoretz very
much subscribes to the Rumsfeldian
thesis of weakness being provocative.
Indeed, he
argues, American passivity – opening the
door to 9/11 – dates back as far as
Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy
Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W.
Bush, Bill Clinton, and pre-9/11 George
W. Bush.
A Podhoretzian history
reads:
World War I: 1914 –
1918
World War II: 1939 –
1945
World War III: 1947 –
1989
World War IV: c.1970 –
Aside from re-naming the
Cold War and introducing the reader to
World War III – fundamental to the
labelling of the next – what is
particularly striking is the date
attributed to World War IV. Podhoretz
explains:
“To examine this history
is to realise that even while World War
III was still going on, World War IV had
already begun, and that 9/11, far from
being the first salvo fired by an enemy
as implacable as any we had ever faced,
actually represented the culmination of
a long series of attacks that we had
insisted on treating not as deliberate
acts of war demanding a military
response but as common crimes of the
work of rogue groups operating on their
own that could best be handled by the
cops and the courts”.
The language of the
subtitle – controversial in itself – is
a flaw comparable to the re-branding of
the Cold War: too great a feat to become
common lexicon. Even so, World War IV -
unlike the plethora of post-9/11 works -
is not a straight narrative leading from
9/11/2001 to 9/11/2006, or beyond.
Ultimately, what Podhoretz provides –
albeit less welcome in some quarters
than others – is an original
interpretation of what exactly 9/11
means.
 The
Five Front War: The Better Way to Fight
Global Jihad
Daniel
Byman
How much fear is
acceptable? How many terrorist
attacks must we tolerate? Why cannot
terrorism be totally eradicated? Whether
or not Byman’s answers to such sobering
questions are deemed satisfactory is
hotly-contested. Essentially, what Byman
offers the reader is a new pair of
spectacles with which to view the war on
terror.
Byman’s thesis reads:
-
The Military:
We should rethink the role of the
military. Rather than the U.S. Army
fighting insurgencies, we can offer
our military expertise to allied
governments that will fight them
directly
-
The War of Ideas:
Because much of the battle is fought
“over there,” we need to think hard
about the abysmal world opinion of
America. Instead of trying to
justify unpopular U.S. policies, we
should go negative and remind people
of the jihadists’ unpopular deeds
and theology. Make the debate about
them, not about us
-
Intelligence:
Intelligence, the most important
counterterrorism tool, must
emphasize working effectively with
local partners. Cooperation is
essential
-
Homeland Defense:
In the short term, democracy might
be a boon for al-Qa’ida by weakening
local governments and empowering
anti-U.S. voices. Perception
management and bolstering public
will are often critical parts of a
successful defense against terrorism
-
Democratic Reform:
We must find ways to promote
democratic reform without the
spectre of an enemy rising up
against us. When we cannot, we must
recognize the limits of reform
A satisfying albeit
sobering read.
Without doubt one of the most
comprehensive reads pertaining to
jihadist terror attacks over recent
years. What is more, its non-partisan
nature is both refreshing and a
beneficial rarity. From containment to a
“crush” strategy, Byman examines the
various approaches to the war on
terrorism. In short, a truly realist(ic) hardback
that is authoritative as it is timely,
and one surely to be referenced by
presidential-hopefuls Messers Clinton
and Obama. |
