Marc Xavier
Sep 13th, 2001, 07:17:14 PM
I read something today that disturbed me; an article in the New York Times calling the recent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon the beginning of "World War III." I mulled this around in my mind for a little while and then I realized that perhaps this man is right. Although I don't like the idea of using nuclear weapons in a military engagement, I think that if this situation escalates it may ultimately become inevitable.
The Art of War, like the societies and technologies that run it, changes. Long ago people threw spears to deal with their problems; then bows and arrows; catapults; guns; missiles; and nukes.
But War, itself, is even more than the technology used to carry it out. In the Colonial days, War was seen as neatly walking blocks of men who went out into fields and took turns shooting at each other. Minutemen and ambushes and the like defeated that paradigm. War eventually became a kind of competition between people in tanks, airplanes, and with machine guns. Technology was often the deciding factor in who would win a confrontation. This view of War lead to the creation of the increasingly deadly forms of weaponry that ended with the development of atomic arsenals.
As far as War is concerned, Technology has reached its destructive peak; it is at its pinnacle. Machine-based war now has the capability to destroy the entire playing field, destroy the earth, and wipe out civilization. As soon as it was realized that perhaps War's affair with Mechanic-Technology had gone too far, people began to back up and realize that what they did now with their political skirmishes could have lasting repercussions across our blue globe. Suddenly people were a little more willing to get along.
World War I and World War II were fought with the old War paradigm of wealth and power through acquirement of land. The Third Reich was determined to take over its surrounding countries and establish a prestigious and unprecedented world government. It was the clashing of great ideas mixed with the clashing of metal and lead.
The Cold War was the clash of "super powers," a toe-to-toe stand off to see who would blink first in the nuclear arena. It was a war that, thankfully, never truly happened, because if it did, it would have been a clash without a victor. In the nuclear playing field, everyone loses.
In the 21st century and with the establishment of the "Global Community" we no longer have separate super powers. The meaning of War has changed again. It is no longer the organized clashing of nation versus nation, but it is rather now the collision of more pure ideologies: The Free World versus those people who view us as evil, and will turn our very own machines against us in order to make their point. They don't have the capability or the resources to attack us in the traditional ways: They can't challenge our Army with troops. They can't dispute our Navy with ships. They can't compete with our Air Force in the skies. So they turn our own devices against us in a way we never would have been able to grasp before the day of September 11, 2001 at 8:45 am.
The phrase "the war against terrorism" is quite appropriate. Right now, America is looking toward the old paradigm, searching for a country or a government to pin the blame of the World Trade Center disasters on and they may find a government responsible for these atrocities. But in reality, the United States is not at war any longer with such a tangible sort of enemy. Indeed, the entire civilized world is no longer at war with a foe whom simply hides within the borders of a country and can be weeded out and bombed with enough brute force.
No, indeed, the enemy is now among us.
The enemy will not be conquered by a simple show of military might and violence. No, to win this war America will have to be both smart and powerful. It must be watchful and alert, because the enemy is in our airports, riding in our airplanes. He is in your neighborhood holding secret meetings to plan the next "military strike" against our nation. He is in a hotel room. He is in our schools, learning how we work, what we do and what our weaknesses are. He can be anywhere and nowhere. He is a shape shifter, able to take any form he chooses and hide in front of our eyes. He is the one who smiles to our faces and spits to our back.
He has no military. He has no resources.
Economic sanctions don't hurt him. Political action does not deter him.
He has no regard for himself or for those he kills. He is a walking time bomb, a talking cruise missile.
He is a living ideology bent on destroying not only our buildings and our lives, but also indeed our hope and our souls. Like him, his targets are not so much tangible as ideological. He may destroy our buildings and kill our people, but his real goal is to break our spirit and terrorize our hearts. America needs to realize that, again, the Art of War has changed.
The old rules were thrown out the window the minute that first 767 hit the World Trade Center.
It will take more than a powerful America to defeat our enemy. It will take an intelligent and committed country to stamp out this new evil, for indeed, the people who did this were evil.
- Julius Harper
marcxavier@furryconflict.com
The Art of War, like the societies and technologies that run it, changes. Long ago people threw spears to deal with their problems; then bows and arrows; catapults; guns; missiles; and nukes.
But War, itself, is even more than the technology used to carry it out. In the Colonial days, War was seen as neatly walking blocks of men who went out into fields and took turns shooting at each other. Minutemen and ambushes and the like defeated that paradigm. War eventually became a kind of competition between people in tanks, airplanes, and with machine guns. Technology was often the deciding factor in who would win a confrontation. This view of War lead to the creation of the increasingly deadly forms of weaponry that ended with the development of atomic arsenals.
As far as War is concerned, Technology has reached its destructive peak; it is at its pinnacle. Machine-based war now has the capability to destroy the entire playing field, destroy the earth, and wipe out civilization. As soon as it was realized that perhaps War's affair with Mechanic-Technology had gone too far, people began to back up and realize that what they did now with their political skirmishes could have lasting repercussions across our blue globe. Suddenly people were a little more willing to get along.
World War I and World War II were fought with the old War paradigm of wealth and power through acquirement of land. The Third Reich was determined to take over its surrounding countries and establish a prestigious and unprecedented world government. It was the clashing of great ideas mixed with the clashing of metal and lead.
The Cold War was the clash of "super powers," a toe-to-toe stand off to see who would blink first in the nuclear arena. It was a war that, thankfully, never truly happened, because if it did, it would have been a clash without a victor. In the nuclear playing field, everyone loses.
In the 21st century and with the establishment of the "Global Community" we no longer have separate super powers. The meaning of War has changed again. It is no longer the organized clashing of nation versus nation, but it is rather now the collision of more pure ideologies: The Free World versus those people who view us as evil, and will turn our very own machines against us in order to make their point. They don't have the capability or the resources to attack us in the traditional ways: They can't challenge our Army with troops. They can't dispute our Navy with ships. They can't compete with our Air Force in the skies. So they turn our own devices against us in a way we never would have been able to grasp before the day of September 11, 2001 at 8:45 am.
The phrase "the war against terrorism" is quite appropriate. Right now, America is looking toward the old paradigm, searching for a country or a government to pin the blame of the World Trade Center disasters on and they may find a government responsible for these atrocities. But in reality, the United States is not at war any longer with such a tangible sort of enemy. Indeed, the entire civilized world is no longer at war with a foe whom simply hides within the borders of a country and can be weeded out and bombed with enough brute force.
No, indeed, the enemy is now among us.
The enemy will not be conquered by a simple show of military might and violence. No, to win this war America will have to be both smart and powerful. It must be watchful and alert, because the enemy is in our airports, riding in our airplanes. He is in your neighborhood holding secret meetings to plan the next "military strike" against our nation. He is in a hotel room. He is in our schools, learning how we work, what we do and what our weaknesses are. He can be anywhere and nowhere. He is a shape shifter, able to take any form he chooses and hide in front of our eyes. He is the one who smiles to our faces and spits to our back.
He has no military. He has no resources.
Economic sanctions don't hurt him. Political action does not deter him.
He has no regard for himself or for those he kills. He is a walking time bomb, a talking cruise missile.
He is a living ideology bent on destroying not only our buildings and our lives, but also indeed our hope and our souls. Like him, his targets are not so much tangible as ideological. He may destroy our buildings and kill our people, but his real goal is to break our spirit and terrorize our hearts. America needs to realize that, again, the Art of War has changed.
The old rules were thrown out the window the minute that first 767 hit the World Trade Center.
It will take more than a powerful America to defeat our enemy. It will take an intelligent and committed country to stamp out this new evil, for indeed, the people who did this were evil.
- Julius Harper
marcxavier@furryconflict.com