Article: Making the Right Argument

Earlier this week, The N.Y. Times published this op-ed by Robert A. Pape, a professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and author of "Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism".

The dust has yet to settle in the London Underground and the pundits have already flooded the op-ed pages rehashing their same arguments again - everyone trying desperately to make sense of the senselessness. As I read the op-eds written by ostensibly learned individuals, I'm consistently astonished at just how off-the-point we seem to all be on what is clearly the biggest subject of our time. Its not that the points they make are necessarily bad given the argument they put forth, but it is the argument itself that seems to miss the essence of the issues we face in the Middle East, and the rest of the dysfunctional world for that matter.

In order to properly gauge the success or failure of our mission here it is first necessary to state just what the mission is and its desired end state, which is of course, a stable, democratic and free Middle East. I emphasize "democratic" and "free" because that is a decidedly different approach than any we've taken prior to September 11th. "Stable" yes, but “democratic” and “free” was previously not of our concern. As long as the local leader was, as Lyndon Johnson so dreadfully put it, "Our Son-of-a-Bitch" and was friendly to our commercial interests, we deemed the regime as "stable". In fact, even in cases where the regime was decidedly not friendly, we continued to make policy decisions in favor of said stability. This was the case in 1991 when then President George H.W. Bush halted the push toward Baghdad and chose to begin a damaging, costly twelve-year détente with Saddam Hussein in order to prevent a "power vacuum" that may have threatened our oil-exporting "sons-of-bitches" in the House of Saud. Three-hundred thousand Iraqi Shiites were allowed to die for the sake of stability. Now, our more short-sighted opponents of intervention are once again arguing in favor of short-term stability.

I hate to pick on just one individual, but let's take the kindly Professor Pape's op-ed as a test case:

...many Americans had hoped that Al Qaeda has been badly weakened by American counterterrorism efforts since Sept. 11, 2001, the facts indicate otherwise.

Despite what many American's are hoping for, which is a quick end to any and all suffering (who wouldn't want that?) the fact is that we are in a protracted conflict that has an over-arching strategy that can't be measured by statistics on the national origins of suicide bombers and whose desired outcomes won't be fully realized for what could be generations. The problem with trying to maintain this strategy is that the debate surrounding our efforts continues to be short-sighted in nature, with metrics that are aimed at appealing to short attention-spans.

I was able to collect the names, nationalities and detailed demographic information on 67 of these [71] bombers, data that provides insight into the underlying causes of Al Qaeda’s suicide terrorism…Most important, the figures show that Al Qaeda is today less a product of Islamic fundamentalism than of a simple strategic goal: to compel the United States and its Western Allies to withdraw combat forces from the Arabian Peninsula and other Muslim countries.

(emphasis added)

Mr. Pape forgot to add “…to establish a Taliban-like, repressive ultra-extremist Islamic Caliphate that spans the entire Muslim world.” That, in actuality, is their “simple strategic goal.” Suicide bombings are a tactic employed toward that end. Of course, Mr. Pape was probably referring to the motivation behind most of the attacks these days being targeted toward breaking our will at home. That point was not entirely lost in the poor phraseology. The question I would ask is: If it is so obvious that is their goal, why would anyone put forth an argument that implicitly advocates giving them exactly what they are murdering by the hundreds to achieve?

By stating that “Islamic Fundamentalism” is, or at least was the cause of Al Qaeda’s brand of terrorism betrays a lack of understanding between cause and effect on this issue. Religious fundamentalism itself (in all its forms) is an effect; a product. It’s the reaction of religious, conservative mindsets to change. And the United States is perceived to be the change agent by the conservatives of the Muslim world. The desperate decision to employ violence and mass murder against innocents as a tactic toward achieving their goals is also an effect - a product. It is a product of a lack of faith in the rule of law. This lack of faith is incubated in the unjust and corrupt societies that are inevitable when leadership is not accountable to the governed. In other words, the fundamentalist movement probably won’t go away, after all its Christian equivalent is alive and well back home in the United States, but the tactics employed to affect change (or resist it for that matter) are obviously very different. If we’re not asking ourselves why that is then we’re not examining the real causes. Lastly, the ability of homicidal madmen to indoctrinate, recruit and deploy young people by the hundreds to kill themselves while taking innocent life is a product. It is a product of poverty, of hopelessness. It is a product of self-serving, corrupt regimes that do not have the best interest of their people in mind, which is what occurs in the absence of democracy, basic human rights and the rule of law. Our culpability in this cycle of madness is our willingness to tolerate these regimes for the sake of “stability”.

Afghanistan produced [Al] Qaeda suicide terrorist only after the American-led invasion of the country in 2001. The clear implication is that if Al Qaeda was no longer able to draw recruits from the Muslim countries where there is a heavy American combat presence, it might well collapse.

This is a grossly false conclusion to draw. Firstly, Mr. Pape lists “Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia and Morocco” as the primary nationalities of the suicide bombers on his list, “rather than those the State Department considers ‘state sponsors of terrorism’ like Iran, Libya, Sudan and Iraq.” Aside from Turkey, none other on that list has a “heavy American combat presence”. And not to split hairs, but we’re not engaged in combat in Turkey either. I find this to be self-contradictory. But that’s not really what bothers me. Being in Afghanistan and talking with the average citizen ever single day, I believe I can safely say that the reason Afghanistan has produced suicide bombers only after our invasion and subsequent rehabilitation is that Afghanistan has become a considerably more difficult operational environment for Islamic terrorism due to extremely high popular support for the Coalition and the Karzai government. Many of Al Qaeda’s “true believers” here answered Bin Laden’s call and have joined with the Iraqi insurgency, which is where most of Mr. Pape’s statistics come from.

“Since 2002, [Al Qaeda] has killed citizens from 18 of the 20 countries that Osama Bin Laden has cited as supporting the American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.”

This is one of those misleading statistics because it doesn’t tell you how many countries lost innocent citizens that Bin Laden did not cite as supporting our invasions. Countries like Iraq for instance, which has lost thousands. Now forgive my sarcasm, but are you saying that we are being targeted because we are the ones who chose to fight? What is the not-so-implicit suggestion here? Don’t fight, right? Stability, right? Some called it “détente” back when we were debating what to do with the Soviets, who murdered millions. As a man who loves his fellow human beings, I find such a suggestion morally bankrupt. And is this not precisely what was previously stated as the enemy’s “simple strategic goal”?

Now, I have some cause/effect analysis of my own. Here I re-quote the Al Qaeda document cited in Mr. Pape’s op-ed discussing the strategy to affect the outcome of the Spanish general elections:

“We think that the Spanish government could not tolerate two, maximum of three blows, after which it will have to withdraw as a result of popular pressure.”

And that is exactly what happened. The Spanish electorate chose appeasement and thus solidified Al Qaeda’s policy of politically-timed terror.

“…the withdrawal of the Spanish or Italian forces from Iraq would put huge pressure on the British presence, a pressure that Tony Blair might not be able to withstand, and hence the domino tiles would fall quickly”

Its Al Qaeda’s own domino theory, based on the understanding that the only way to defeat militaries from democratic countries is to undermine the will of the people to continue to tolerate losses. It is precisely this strategy that won the Vietnam conflict for the North and it was re-confirmed in Somalia. If we’re going to put forth this “We brought it on ourselves. Let’s go home and stop making them mad.” argument we must at least acknowledge that by doing so we are advocating policy that is directly in line with a spelled-out, specific Al Qaeda operational agenda. They may not be trying to win your hearts, but they are trying to bully your minds into submission to their murderous will. Mr. Pape seems convinced. What will you decide?

The London attacks will only encourage Osama bin Laden and other Qaeda leaders in the belief that they will succeed…”

No, Mr. Pape, arguments such as yours are what encourages them.

Having said all that, it is necessary to address areas where we are to blame; areas where we are responsible for the anger directed toward us. The places of the world that are exporting terrorism, and those that will export terror in the future are those places where we have a strong commercial interest but not a human interest. We are so adamant that our rights be respected and that our leadership is held accountable here at home, but we are generally apathetic to the suffering and injustice visited on our brothers and sisters in other countries that is at the very least facilitated by our tolerance of the regimes that perpetrate these crimes against them. We do so for the sake of “stability” which often can be translated to mean “short term commercial interests.” It’s a sin of omission in most cases, but the accusations of thoughtless exploitation ring true when we are willing to do business with these governments to have access to their natural resources but do not take an active interest in the rights and dignities of our fellow human beings that live under the oppressor’s thumb.

Living up to our values is the “hard right”. Insisting that the governments that we do business with honor the lives and respect the lives of their citizens is the hard, expensive choice. We’ve made the wrong choice for years and this is where we find ourselves. But the decision to disengage – to leave and once again let the innocent fend for themselves against the Talibans and Al Qaedas of the world is a folly far worse. It’s not “time to leave” and it never will be. The world is too small and too integrated for that to ever be a possibility. It is time to start insisting that our foreign policy is “human first”.

Sorry, Mr. Pape, I’m sure you’re a really smart guy and all, but on this one, you and many of your academic peers are just plain wrong.

Our Brothers and Sisters

We recently completed a mission to assess the needs of a nearby refugee camp. About 400 families live there. It wasn't as bad as I had expected, everyone seemed to have food and the water-borne diseases were not having too great an impact on the little community despite the recent floods.

They have nothing, so any gift no matter how small is that much more meaningful. They fight over the half-sticks of gum I gave out to them! The desperation for anything we had to offer was astonishing. The faces of the children haunt you. They could be your own.So many times I've seen a glimpse of my nephews or the eyes of my sister in the crowd. So much of what I am doing here is an exploration into my sense of a shared humanity with the rest of the world...a feeling that I feel is far too rare in our world today and one I hope to play a small part in reviving. We must begin to see everyone as our brothers and sisters and insist that their lives be honored as we most assuredly would if they were a true member of our family. To me they are. The only humans that are not are the ones who would benefit from the exploitation, ignorance or misery of others.



My father sent me an email just before I shipped out that keeps resonating in my heart. Here is just part of it that I wanted to share with everyone:

In terms of your vision and motivation, it is of more value for you to give a kid a piece of gum, or greet an old man with a genuine smile in an experience where the oneness that exists between you is recognized, than to feed an entire village that experiences the gift as condescension.

How noble of you to take on the multigenerational task of building the bridges of awareness between our cultures; knowing how extreme the odds are of your ever seeing any quantifiable results. If you make the mistake of requiring visible results, you will become unhappy and frustrated. Be content that you are where you know you need to be, attaching nothing to a specific outcome.

Remember always to see the oneness that exists between you and all things. Even if you have to place your cross hairs on one that attacks you with deadly force; be able to pull the trigger recognizing and honoring him as a part of yourself; an unfortunate lost part of you that must be cut off from causing further harm. Do what you must, take none of it too seriously, remembering that even death is an illusion.

It is your daily, hour by hour, moment to moment practice that will make the difference between this experience being one that hardens and distances you from the joy of life or draws you ever closer to it. Practice stillness, practice present moment awareness. Practice quietly observing everything, within and without, with a loving eye and fearing nothing.

Thanks, Dad. These words encapsulate the perspective and practices I am striving to maintain for the rest of my life.

The Real Mission Begins

Convoy to JBad

Its been a long ten days. So much has happened. We finally got the hell out Bagram, which was a huge relief. Apparently the more “mature” a theatre of operations becomes the less there is for certain high-ranking officers and enlisted persons to do so they resort to enforcing dress codes and other trivial rules. I personally wasn’t accosted for any minor infractions of mindless uniformity, but I bore witness to a few including one just as our convoy was leaving for our six-hour kidney-bruising odyssey to Jalalabad. Apparently this Lt. Colonel passing by noticed one of our entourage without his seatbelt on and ran up screaming, literally screaming at him about it – some mention of scooping up his brains - I tuned the guy out shortly after he began. Oddly enough, when he came by my window, where I was definitely *not* wearing my belt, he didn’t say a thing. I’ve found this quaint little defense mechanism that I employ in these unique “Army” situations: I just give this serene, possibly vacant (but possibly not vacant) smile with just a dash of pity added to the eyes – like you’re watching a newborn kitten frustrated with a piece of yarn caught around its paws. It really works! Most of the time they just get this confounded look on their face and move on to the next victim of their unrestrained ego-tantrum.

Rolling “out of the wire” in Bagram was not at all the complexity of emotion that I had anticipated. I wasn’t anxious. I slept like a baby the night before. I was excited but not for the element of danger, rather the anticipation of finally, finally getting to begin my actual mission – the culmination of six months of training and two months of mobilization…and nearly two years of deliberation. If I could have visited myself two years ago and told him (me) that I was about to start work at a PRT in Afghanistan, I would not have believed me. My dream of being part of this was now real. The thought still exhilarates me! Not because the job is particularly that exciting all the time (though it can be) but because I did it! I made the leap of faith. I took the risk and followed my heart and here I am – for better, for worse, it doesn’t matter. I broke free of the imprisonment of my conventional mindset and set my life on a new course – on a true course. After the leap, every “big” decision from then on takes on a much less ominous, more playful tone. My new goal is simple: To lead as interesting a life as possible and to raise my family to a new way of viewing their role in the world.

The trip to Jalalabad was uneventful in the military sense. But I was fascinated by my surroundings and by my reaction to same. I’d been to the “third world” several times before, but always as a reluctant guest. Today, it was as a brother. Life is so much harder for these people from just about anyone’s perspective, yet there is a light behind the eyes and a trueness in their smiles that I’ve deeply missed somewhere in my soul. Sure, there are a few angry, jaded types in every crowd but the vast majority are friendly, hospitable and curious to know more about their strange visitors. Anyone who would tell you we are unwelcome “invaders” here should come spend a day with me on the streets of Jalalabad. You feel more like a movie star that a hated “infidel”. The trip through the tight mountain passes was absolutely striking. There were several rather surreal moments, like passing a bombed out Soviet tank on the side of the road – a grim reminder of what happened here when the Soviets took a very different approach to Afghan pacification. Scores of mine field warning signs decorated the roadside and the percentage of amputees amongst the roadside population sample was remarkable.

The trip passed without incident. I was almost disappointed that I wasn’t more excited about it, actually. Although I had experienced a profound realization of a shared humanity, my reaction to potentially dangerous operations has been so far a reserved, quiet professionalism. I’m actually quite reassured by this. Its like I said before, all the “big” decisions seem not so big and putting yourself in potentially dangerous situations just isn’t as intimidating as one might expect. Naturally, I don’t want to die or be seriously maimed, but my reaction to that possibility isn’t fear as much as it is the sadness of knowing how much pain my loved ones would endure if it were to happen.

Home Sweet Home

We arrived in Jalalabad tired and thirsty but excited about getting started on our mission – not to mention getting to a permanent location to end months of living out of duffle bags. Ourselves, and everything we brought with us was covered in a rather thick layer of fine, gray dust.I got some great post-convoy pics and then we headed to our rooms to check out where we’d be spending the next year of our lives. Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad at all. Aside from the fact that the previous inhabitants left a huge mess and a rather sickening stench of unknown origin emanating from one of the cabinets, it wasn’t much worse than my first college dormitory. In keeping with the collegiate theme, we were also bequeathed a unique, wall-to-wall collage featuring at least a hundred or so cutout pictures of scantily clad women from various issues of Maxim, FHM and other magazines of the “male Cosmo” genre.


The Jalalabad PRT grounds is a former Soviet officer’s resort facility. There’s even an old swimming pool that we use for a basketball court. It hasn’t held water in nearly two decades but the Taliban found it useful as an execution pit during their tenure here. The hundreds of bullet marks in the bottom and sides mark the violent and terrifying demise of so many souls. Its sobering to step down into it to play some one-on-one and know what took place here. If I ever for a moment entertain doubts as to whether we should be here or not, I need only remember that if we were not here, this swimming pool would no doubt still be used to take the lives of the innocent.

I was thrilled to find out that we have several dogs on the premises. I needed a surrogate for my two Labrador retrievers back home. Though it’s hardly an acceptable substitute for my boys, the naturally Zen-like demeanor of any dog makes me feel right at home. Its funny because technically having a pet here is a violation of “General Order Number One”, which sounds ridiculously similar in its verbal gravitas to the “Prime Directive” of Star Trek, and like its Sci-Fi counterpart, equally ignored. G.O.1 states you can’t own a pet, amongst other things that are given surface-level attention, but otherwise ignored (like no sex and no alcohol) but no one really “owns” these dogs, so it’s alright. Yet another example of how the letter of the law is honored while its spirit is completely undermined. Anyone who’s ever read Catch 22 can relate to the unqualified insanity of the military group-think phenomenon.

Meeting the Governor

Well, it actually turned out to be the Deputy Governor as the Governor was away on business, but still – it was Day 2 and we were already sitting in front of the provincial and municipal leadership. The mayor of Jalalabad was there as well. It was mostly just a get acquainted meeting. Being a lowly Specialist, I didn’t say much. I found a comfortable spot, grabbed a handful of pistachios and a cup of chai tea, just as our hosts had done, and sat back and watched - even exchanging a knowing smile with the mayor as on of the more agonizingly cheesy “diplomatic” proclamations was being translated. I had fun but also realized that I’ll probably never be given an opportunity in the military to actually use my skills at this level, regardless of what I’ve come to believe to be my one true talent of connecting with people. It has been in the past few days actually where I have realized the true limitations of my role as a junior enlisted solider and how different this world is from the private sector in that regard. All of my talents and experience in my civilian life can be exploited at the Army’s leisure, but no credit is given for them in kind. For instance, I have to fight to get out of the office now that they’ve discovered my I.T. background, but my skills of negotiation and my experience in high-level decision making, my college degree and my extensive world travel seem to mean absolutely nothing at all. It’s a frustration to be sure, but I will find ways of gaining “informal” influence. After all, a good idea is infectious. If I happen to have one or two, I should expect them to stand out on their own merit. Naturally, one of my superiors will get the credit, but I’m always reminded of a saying:

“There’s no limit to what can be accomplished if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

Sage advice for an ambitious E-4 to live by.

I’ve been on several missions the past few days. One was a humanitarian assistance mission to leave some supplies for some locals where were stranded by the floods caused by the spring snow melt. I stood directly underneath the flight path of the Ch-47 Chinook helicopter as it made its approach to drop of the supplies. It damn near knocked me off my feet! Got it all on video, too. Its been good for a few laughs around here.

The latest mission was to inspect the local women’s center that had been destroyed by the infamous riots that happened here in May. Not much to the story really, I pulled guard duty outside while the higher ranks went in for the meet-and-greet. While outside, I gathered quite a large crowd of children around me. I suppose all my smiling and waving helped them to gather the courage to approach me - they didn’t seem to bother the other soldiers much. While I was making slow conversational progress with a few that knew a few words of English, I took out a pack of Wrigley’s Extra chewing gum and realized that I had just enough to give some to each of them if I tore each piece in half. The act tearing the sticks made me think of my grandfather, “Papa”. When I was a child, his trademark move was to offer you a piece of gum and then tear it in half. I think I was in college before I ever got an entire stick of gum out of the old guy! It was maddening to a spoiled American kid, but it has come to be a very special and endearing memory. I decided at that point that I would do this every time I give a kid a piece of gum here - in honor of him.


In the last couple days there’s been an increase in insurgent activity. Just yesterday there was a Chinook downed in the mountains near our area of operations. I can’t say much more at this time, only to say that our Civil Affairs activities have been curtailed slightly for more “security-oriented” tasks. Hopefully this is a temporary change of priorities and we’ll be able to assume our normal assignment soon.