Damien Hogan
With the dust yet to settle in Madrid and our own Prime Minister claiming "security" as one of his pre-election strengths, I thought a quick roundup of the War on Terror might be in order.
Obviously this is not a war in the traditional sense. Al Qaeda have no plans to occupy and hold the western half of Utah or embark on a Lend-Lease agreement. So what are their plans and how has the war been going for them? By a stroke of luck Osama's "secret" plans were left on the bus seat next to me today:
Our Secret Plan - August, 2001
* Create fear
Fear is the backbone of any terrorist organisation. Lacking the resources to mount any large scale invasions or military occupations, the anticipation of horror is our greatest weapon. The acts themselves will probably generate their own publicity, but ideally local politicians should never let the concept slip from the public's mind for more than a few days - some kind of "terror indicator" (colours would be good) that can be placed on the front pages of newspapers or in TV bulletins would be useful. Obviously, it is mere fantasy to think of it, but an expensive television advertising campaign promoting the concept of "being terrified" would be great. To make it more palatable we might have to substitute the word "alert" for "terrified", but the message should still be clear.
* Alienate US from her allies
The combined forces of The West are enormous. With a unified approach they would be almost unbeatable. We must divide and conquer. The UK is touch and go (and Australia is simply untouchable) but 150+ or more of the remaining countries should be easily separated. The mere appearance of the US (or even a small handful of minor powers) as "rogue states" will be an enormously powerful propaganda tool in recruiting new members.
* Massively increase US military spending
This should weaken one of America's great strengths (their economy) and may directly lead to pain in the American community (via reduced services and/or higher taxes). A massive military build up in conventional weapons (and high tech weapons in particular) would be largely ineffectual in fighting us and so should be encouraged. In a perfect world a focus on space-based weapons or even a missile shield would be excellent as these are simultaneously astronomically expensive and entirely useless. As an additional benefit, military spending also consumes resources that might otherwise be used to woo our power-base of poverty stricken, powerless, despotically ruled zealots.
* Unite the Arab world
There is no need to spell out that fighting amongst ourselves is the road to ruin. Whilst our differences are large, we can surely draw together around a common enemy. If we can somehow get the US president to use terms like "crusade" when discussing various conflicts we will be doing very well indeed. I can't see how this is possible as it would play completely into our hands... but Allah willing.
* Disperse US forces
The more countries the US attacks the better. Occupation will generate thousands of new supporters. Standard military theory teaches that the concentration of force is vital for any victory. Arab countries are preferred targets but beggars can't be choosers. There will be real dangers for us if America remains focussed on Afghanistan for any length of time. An attack on Iran or Syria would be excellent - North Korea would be OK, but would take the spotlight of us and is not preferred. I was joking the other day with Omar about how funny it would be if the US attacked that infidel Hussein!
* Training facilities
If I may briefly continue the joke and presume that somehow all sense had left our enemy' minds and that they DID invade Iraq - well that would be a great service. A fundamentalist Islamic government would almost certainly eventually take power and prior to that event many of the techniques of terrorism would be best taught in the kind of arena that Baghdad would offer. I think we could say with great confidence that Baghdad would become to us what Fort Bragg is to the Americans.
* USA out of Saudi
We must remove American military forces from the holy land.
* Weaken moderate leaders
We should hope for US arrogance towards unstable regimes. If possible open threats and/or blatant bribes by the US should be encouraged. We must separate the people from their governments. This should create either a shift to policies more favourable to our position or alternatively more repression from those regimes. Either helps us.
* Increase recruitment
Any US action which leads to increased recruitment or support from the countries in which we operate should be supported. It goes without saying that the American's only real chance of final victory is to turn the locals against us. We must prevent this. Racism is our friend.
* Attack American legal institutions
Whilst there is already plenty of material to work with, anything which increases global the perception of hypocrisy by the Americans will be propaganda gold. This is a very tough one as many of the American's rights are enshrined in the constitution. But since we are making wish lists, it would be great to get the US to hold without trial (or even deport) thousands of innocent middle eastern looking citizens. The rights of the 1st and 4th and 5th amendments should be gutted. Gulags would be good. In addition, multilateral treaties (eg Chemical, Nuclear or Biological treaties) should be ignored for the US and Israel but rigorously applied to others.
* Ignore Palestine
Any peace in Palestine would be a terrible blow and rob us of a great deal of "righteousness". Luckily the US seems to determined to let the Israelis solve this one on their own! So that pot should be boiling for a couple of decades yet.
* Discourage non-military solutions
Military solutions inevitably lead to collateral damage no matter how carefully they are carried out. Collateral damage is the life blood of "radical" recruitment. Occupation is equally useful. If possible every problem should be viewed by the US as a military problem.
* Finally - avoid capture of important leaders (eg Me)
Whilst I technically play a very small role in the actual organisation, my capture would be a significant propaganda defeat. America will probably recognise this and would show themselves as complete fools if they were to become distracted by other less important targets e.g. Hussein. If however I am captured alive then under no circumstance must I be tried fairly for my crimes or kept alive to rot in a cell. My trial must appear to be manifestly biased (or even illegal if possible) and martyrdom would greatly increase the movement's power and legitimacy.