The Taliban and al-Qaeda are similar in some aspects and not similar in others. They certainly share a fundamentalist ultra-nationalism for a new pan-Islamic Caliphate. But that hardly makes them identical. The distinction explains the position of those of us who supported the idea of a limited action by the UN to arrest the leaders of the al-Qaeda network and put them on trial as opposed to the US overthrowing (another) government we did not like, even if that government has horrible. Bombing to stop terrorism is an oxymoron.
But these discussions have a way of turning into polarizing reductionism where nuance is quickly trampled. The proper analogy to WWII fascism would be to ask if it would have been acceptable for Britain in 1937 to bomb Germany, topple the Hitler government, and seek to chase Spanish fascist ex-patriates into caves before Germany started to annex land outside its borders. For the record, I reluctantly would say no, although I certainly approve of the individual decision to join the anti-fascist Republican brigades in Spain. Again, important distinctions.
For those that appreciate horrible irony--the following from a PBS site on great art:
"In 1935, German General Erich Ludendorff published Die Totale Krieg (The Total War) in which he presented the view that in war, no one is innocent; everyone is a combatant and everyone a target, soldier and civilian alike. Italian General Giulio Douhet further suggested an enemy's morale could be crushed by air-delivered terror. Such theories intrigued Nazi Germany's new Fuhrer, but they needed testing. Spain seemed to be the perfect laboratory."
"The Commander of the Condor Legion was Lt. Colonel Wolfram von Richthofen, cousin of Manfred von Richthofen, the infamous Red Baron of World War I. It was Von Richthofen who earmarked Guernica for bombardment, on behalf of Franco. At precisely 3:45 PM, Monday, April 26, 1937, the first German bomber took off. Three-quarters of an hour later, the first bomb fell on Guernica - a direct hit on the plaza at the center of town, a full quarter mile from the targeted bridge."
http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/guernica/glevel_1/1a_civil_war.html
-Chip Berlet
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of
> kelley at pulpculture.org
> Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 11:01 AM
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: Terror Inc.
>
>
> At 08:52 AM 5/4/02 -0500, Michael McIntyre wrote:
>
>
> >In other words, removing the Taliban is one thing ad going after the
> >al-Qaeda network is another. 9/11 has almost nothing to do with the
> >former, and the war that removed the Taliban hasn't achieved
> the latter.
>
> Thank you! A voice of reason.
>
> Why oh why are Al-Q and the Taliban being lumped together like this?
> Serious Q: Did I miss something? Is there a persuasive
> account of why they
> should be considered nearly on and the same?
>
> Dennis, I think you can point out how lame some response on
> the left was,
> without going down this path!
>
> kelley
>