Will this play in Peoria? Andrew Sullivan
writes approvingly about the Flypaper Strategy in the Sunday Times (of London), and makes this observation:
The extra beauty of this strategy is that it creates a target for Islamist terrorists that is not Israel. A key objective of the current U.S. strategy is to show that Israel is not the fundamental cause of instability and mayhem in the Middle East - but a victim of the same kind of pathological religious extremism that has destroyed Iran, brutalized Afghanistan and blackmailed Saudi Arabia.
Sullivan's thinking appears to be this:
- There is violence and angry rhetoric in the Middle East.
- Much of it is directed against Israel.
- Many people think Israel is the reason for the instability.
- I (Andrew Sullivan) do not.
- Instead of using discussion and debate to determine if Israel is part of the problem, it's better if the United States (or any other country for that matter) to invade a Middle East country. That way, if there is violence towards the U.S., it will prove that the problems of the past had little to do with Israel and instead, were due to religious extremism.
That's pretty poor reasoning. Also, the notion that it's good to have a war in order to prove a point about political trends is absurd. There are tensions between India and Pakistan. Would it be a good idea to send American troops into Kashmir to demonstrate that Pakistan's interests there are not purely anti-Indian?
Oh wait, they already are:
Indian, U.S. Forces Hold Joint Exercises
NEW DELHI, India -- Indian and U.S. commandos are training together in the rugged Himalayan mountain region near India's borders with China and Pakistan, a U.S. Embassy official said Sunday.
The three-week exercises in the Ladakh region of Jammu-Kashmir state will conclude later this month, the officer said on condition of anonymity. The official declined to give further details.
posted by Quiddity at 9/08/2003 12:13:00 PM 
