It's obvious that military strikes against the Afghan Taliban won't stop idiots and nuts with bombs

[bigtree]

. . . from trying to blow something up somewhere. What's not openly discussed by our government is what effect our military presence and aggression in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq is having in fueling and fostering more individuals bent on violent acts against the U.S.. our interests, and against our allies.

During the heart of the Iraq occupation, (which the military hopes to emulate in Afghanistan), a leaked classified National Intelligence Estimate from 16 spy agencies collectively concluded that the military presence and aggression there was creating a new generation of terrorists.

from a 2006 NYT article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7D71E31F937A1575AC0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by U.S. intelligence agencies since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, and it represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States," it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread around the globe.

An opening section of the report, "Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement," cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

The report "says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse," one U.S. intelligence official said.

The present military aggression against the Afghanistan Taliban is as disconnected from resolving the causes and catalysts of terror plots and actual bombings since 9-11 as was the Iraq invasion and occupation. But the military aggression in Afghanistan and Pakistan evidently is inspiring this recent trickle of would-be U.S. territory attackers to violence. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of U.S. military aggression sparking scattered, sporadic reprisals - acts of terror by individuals most often completely disconnected from the forces and elements our military are targeting in their occupations.

It's a lunk-headed strategy to assume that one more military push is going to create 'space' or some vacuum where Afghan or Pakistan forces can assume our nation's blundering, antithetical 'war on terror'. If anything, our efforts to intimidate and stifle Afghanistan's Taliban with the force of our escalated military appear to be inspiring more violent resistance, not less. All of that force certainly didn't stop the hapless Nigerian living in the $5 million suite his daddy bought him from attempting his terror stunt on a plane.

[Way2go]

1. Priming the military/security industrial complex pump

That's what we're really talking about here, isn't it?

[Goldstein1984]

2. I think we're writing about empire

Our economic elite have convinced the political elite that 5% of the world's population needs to do 50% of the world's "defense" spending to protect "vital national interests."

[StarfarerBill]

3. Someone in reply to a post I'd made yesterday asked if there was any evidence...

...that our continued bombings and invasions caused increased membership for terrorist and resistance groups.

If after all these years of counterproductive counterterrorism and -insurgency campaigns someone can still ask that question, we have a long way to go in opening eyes and minds to the true nature of US foreign policy: the continuance of the American Empire and enrichment of the MIC.

[Don Caballero]

4. That was me

Still not convinced that going after bad actors on the world stage causes more terrorism. If we let terrorists run about willy nilly we will be attacked constantly. The terrorists are running scared now they know the President is not soft on terrorism. They know we will strike them anywhere and ignore invisible borders.

[ixion]

7. So if Pakistan or Yemen came over here and bombed your family

because they suspected them of terrorism, you would be okay with that? You would not want to seek revenge on Pakistan or Yemen at all, right?

[bigtree]

8. this Nigerian didn't seem to be 'running scared'.

What leads you to believe that anyone else is? And what of the root causes of this wave of anti-Americanism? Isn't there a point where our offensive military activity abroad is counterproductive to the very cause of lessening the potential for these violent acts? Even the president has acknowledged that the military isn't going to provide the final solution. I don't think the administration has developed enough of an appreciation of the negative consequences of their own military meddling and nation-building. The president readily admits that Iraq was a 'mistake', yet he's convinced himself that the same design of nation-building behind the force of our military in Afghanistan is going to have a different result. I'm impatient with his learning curve.

[StarfarerBill]

9. Terrorist organizations have never been scared of our military kneejerk reactions.

They want those reactions; as I said yesterday they increase the resentment and anger of the targeted populations, and provide fresh recruits for those organizations.

The tactic of terror can't be bombed out of existence; many of these organizations plan in terms of years, moving within civilian populations, waiting patiently for opportunities for the big strike. Denying them their recruits is the best way to starve their organizations; and that's done by helping people achieve better lives, not bombing them in retribution.

[bigtree]

5. saw that, StarfarerBill

It made me go back to some articles I had written at the time which cited the increase. One military source at the time said they were being created faster than our forces could put them down. That make perfect sense, although there will still be folks who can't see the forest for the trees and will need someone in 'authority' to point out the obvious.

(btw, the posts I made on the subject at the time got almost no response here. That's about par for DU.)

[StarfarerBill]

6. Please repost your articles and sources if you will, Bigtree.

More folks here need to see and understand that this vicious cycle is hurting those we target even worse than it is us...and we're hurting.

[Mari333]

10. for every hour every minute we occupy peoples countries, kill their citizens

steal their resources we create a new person who wants to strike back

WE create the terrorists with these policies

one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter

why cant the USA ever see itself as the bad guys?

[bigtree]

11. we're number one!

why do you hate America? :sarcasm: