What is required now, in the wake of the Sept. 11 atrocity, is a strategy to assault and destroy the entire structure of Moslem Terrorism. If adopted and put into action by President Bush and his administration, it would become known as the Bush Doctrine.
Prior to the Reagan Doctrine, the strategy of the United States toward the Soviet Union was that of containment, developed by George Kennan. It was essentially a defensive policy, to "contain” Soviet expansionism as much as possible and wait them out.
As the Soviets went on the imperial march during the Vietnam-Watergate-Jimmy Carter 1970s, converting 14 countries into Soviet colonies from Brazzaville-Congo in 1969 to Afghanistan in 1979, this policy was proven an abject failure. With the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the possibility of an offensive strategy toward the Soviets emerged. The basic concept was to identify the most vulnerable weaknesses of the Soviet Empire and actively pursue methods to exacerbate those weaknesses as much as possible.
The goal of the Reagan Doctrine’s architects (of which I was one) was clear: to rid the world of Soviet imperialism. We did not want peace with the Soviet Union, we did not want to get along with it, we were totally sick and tired of its murderous tyranny and threats to our existence, so we wanted it gone, eliminated, eradicated and off the world map entirely. We looked upon the Soviets as we did the Nazis. Just as the U.S. did not want to "contain” Nazi Germany but wanted – and got – victory over it, we did not want to "contain” the Soviet Union but wanted victory. So did Ronald Reagan. Because Ronald Reagan wanted victory, and had a clear, practical strategy to achieve it, we got it. The Soviet Union no longer exists. America won the Cold War.
President Bush has announced that he and America will settle for nothing less than victory over Moslem Terrorism. This can only mean that from now on we will not accommodate it, tolerate it, attempt to contain it, make excuses for it, nor shy away from fighting it with lily-livered "we can’t be ruthless or we’re just as bad as them” drool. Further, it also means that President Bush must put into action a specific blueprint - a Bush Doctrine - for such a victory.
The Bush Doctrine would be a comprehensive strategy employing various kinds of tactics. Among them could be the following:
Flight crews of U.S. airlines are not allowed to be armed. This is a result of the "Victim Disarmament” policy of the gun-control lobby. U.S. flight crews aren’t even permitted to carry pepper spray or tasers – either one of which could have immobilized the Sept. 11 hijackers.
All flight attendants on U.S. airlines should now be required to carry pepper spray or tasers and be trained in their use. All pilots on U.S. airlines should now be armed with guns and trained in their use. The ammo should be either frangible rounds or #12 birdshot shot shells, which break up on contact so that a terrorist’s face would be blown off but the plane’s fuselage or plastic windows won’t be penetrated. We must make sure that an MT would be as terrified of trying to hijack an American plane as he would an Israeli one.
Individual MTs must be targeted and personally killed. No trials, no "bringing them to justice.” The Anti-Terrorist Policy of the United States should be summed up in six words: HUNT THEM DOWN AND KILL THEM. The Israelis have figured this out. It’s about time we do.
President Bush can rescind the no-assassination EO with a stroke of the pen; he does not need the permission of Congress. What Congress can do, however, is:
In other words, there should be an official U.S. government list of MTs who are Wanted Dead or Alive, bounties in the millions of dollars placed on their heads, and private bounty hunters authorized with Letters of Marque to collect the rewards. There are a number of highly professional "risk-management” companies, such as GlobalOperations in Washington, D.C., who are capable of fielding teams of ex-Delta Force and ex-Navy SEAL commandos to perform this task.
Small enough to be carried by a 747 in flight or the space shuttle to be placed in orbit, a HECL is essentially a rocket engine burning special fuels such as deuterium/fluorine, with mirrors lasing the gases into focused infra-red energy. The resultant coherent IR laser beam delivers roughly one pound of TNT energy for every one pound of rocket fuel at 20 pounds per fraction of a second. The beam diameter from orbit to ground is only a few feet, making extremely selective targeting possible.
Hit by such a beam, all the fat molecules in an individual terrorist’s body would be instantly vaporized in a pillar of fire, leaving only a small pile of charcoal and ashes as residue. Terrorists would have to remain hidden in deep bunkers to prevent their vaporization, as the beam can penetrate vehicles and most buildings. Such a space-deployed anti-terrorist HECL system would appropriately be called The Hammer of Thor.
These are a few examples of what elements the Bush Doctrine would contain. One unifying theme is that of individual retaliation, not massive retaliation. We do not need to level Baghdad or nuke Kabul. We do not need B52 strikes. That’s so 20th century.
As President Bush has noted, this is the first war of the 21st century – and it requires going after specific individuals, not groups, peoples, and cities. We need to kill Saddam Hussein individually, kill Osama bin Laden individually, kill every Taliban assisting Osama bin Laden, kill every member of every cell of Osama bin Laden, kill every member of Hezbollah, kill every Iranian government sponsor of Hezbollah, kill every member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, kill every Syrian government sponsor of Palestinian Islamic Jihad – all of them must be located, hunted down, targeted and personally put to death.
This requires not huge armies. This requires Special Operations teams of the various U.S. military services equipped and trained to target these individuals. This requires the private mobilization of those Americans who have the skills and training, but no longer serve in the US Armed Forces, such as former SEALs, Marines, Rangers, Green Berets, Delta Force and others.
This requires the Pentagon Brass to focus their efforts and funding on Special Operations, rather than continuing to prepare for a land war in Europe. This requires a mammoth funding of HUMINT (human intelligence) resources for the CIA to provide reliable targeting information.
And most of all it requires of the American people to have the will and the steel for such a struggle. This is a struggle that will not be won in the light of day, in glorious battle with the troops storming Mount Suribachi. It will be won in the darkness, with spies and assassins. The only way to win this war, the way to destroy the entire structure of Moslem Terrorism, is to terrify the terrorists individually.
What we must all keep in clear focus is that America is not at war with Moslems, but with Moslem Terrorists. America is not at war with any nation, nor with any ethnic, racial or religious group, but with individuals who have made a choice, a choice to suffuse their souls with murderous, envious evil. These individuals have freely chosen to become our enemies. We now have no choice but to ensure that they suffer the mortal consequence of that choice. That should be the essence of the Bush Doctrine.
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