PrintMay 3, 2013
Fighting Terror with Willful Blindness
The so-called "Global War on Terror" is as far removed from previous wars we've fought as football is from hide-and-seek. In the 20th century, wars were generally fought by countries with clearly defined uniformed combatants bearing military insignia, carrying arms openly, and targeting military personnel rather than civilians. Where civilians were casualties, they were mainly collateral rather than targeted damage. By contrast, our war with Islamic jihadists is not against any country but against religiously inspired zealots, who wear no uniforms, display no insignias, conceal their armaments, and who hide among, as well as target, civilians.
True, spies, saboteurs, and fifth columnists operated in previous wars outside regular defined battlefields and, thus, also violated the laws of war, but, by contrast, their activities did comparatively little damage. Today, however, terrorist attacks are the preferred method of jihadist warfare, and, as a result, gathering information...(Read Full Article)
