Saturday, November 25, 2006
Notes on polarization: Fighting al Qaeda in Anbar
Whenever you read a report that claims that the Iraq war has helped al Qaeda recruit, it is equally important to ask whether it has also helped al Qaeda's enemies to recruit. Yes, the jihad is getting larger, as all armies do during the course of a war. The question is, are the enemies of the jihad increasing in number even faster than the jihad? We have long argued that it is essential in the long war to polarize the Arab and Muslim world by backing the jihadis into forced and unforced errors that create enemies of our enemy. The Mudville Gazette writes about the latest evidence that whatever happens to Iraq, it is unlikely to become a "haven" from which attacks will be launched against the West. Quite the contrary. Many jihadis are dying there at Arab hands, which is exactly what we need to have happen on a large scale throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
CWCID: Glenn Reynolds.
2 Comments:
By 
Lanky_Bastard, at
Sun Nov 26, 01:58:00 PM:
"Many jihadis are dying there at Arab hands, which is exactly what we need to have happen on a large scale throughout the Arab and Muslim world."
I think you'll get your wish. People are starting to kill each other right and left. I just don't think it will be as organized as you'd hoped.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Sun Nov 26, 07:55:00 PM:
I happen to share L-B's worry, but I am also aware that I am basing that on news reports out of Iraq - not the best data for that sort of thing.
As TH has noted before: They don't have to like us, they just have to like freedom.
To which I would add: they don't have to become Switzerland. Brazil or even Cambodia is good enough.
