Our war is not against flesh and blood
Reader comment on item: Guest Column: Israel is the Safest Place for an Arab in the Middle East

Submitted by Chavoux, Sep 7, 2014 10:58

Terrorism aims to create fear (by the "enemies") and hate (against the "enemies"). Until we learn that the war is not simply to overpower them by firepower, but to win their "friendship base", e.g. those "moderate" muslims who still support the radicals, we will be fighting a losing battle. Until we learn that guerilla warfare (including terrorism) aims at the hearts and minds, rather than short-term military power, we will only create more enemies. We have to demonstrate that terrorism does not scare us, convince those friendly towards the terrorists that we are not the demons we are portrayed as _and_ that we are stronger military than the terrorists. Unless we do all three, the terrorists will keep on growing stronger. This is why Mao Tse Dong won, because the nationalist failed in all three of these aspects.

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