h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Most American military authorities these days insist that large-scale warfare (like WWII or Korea or even Desert Storm) is a thing of the past. "Wars of the future," they say, "will be fought in urban areas like Somalia, and will be 'Low Intensity' conflicts. Troops in these areas may conceivably have to perform three missions at once, perhaps offering humanitarian aid in one part of a city, executing peacekeeping missions in another part, and carrying out combat operations in yet a third."

The sweeping statement that we've seen the end of full scale wars seems like a very large bubble to burst, especially with American politicians (well, the Democrats, anyway) advocating military cutbacks because the world is apparently at peace these days. I think one of these days a largish nation is going to start a full-scale war and prove those people wrong.

"Troops in these areas may conceivably have to perform three missions at once, perhaps offering humanitarian aid in one part of a city, executing peacekeeping missions in another part, and carrying out combat operations in yet a third."

Given the date that this article was written, and after Sept 11th and Afghanistan, that prediction was uncannily perceptive...

Not to mention Iraq ...

F

In the Western world, the public, at large, has been profoundly naive regarding the 'common' Muslim world view, and its hydra-headed movements. Collectively, it has paid little attention to Islamic nations and their prolific intertwined roots of one-way, intolerant, religio-terrorism. Of this movement, "tolerance" of suicide bombers, 9-11 horrors, and the like is accepted by moderate Muslims, the latter simply paying lip service to western politicians, but privately many Muslim 'actors' crave a capitulation to an Islamic world. Even the very word fundamentalism, cannot capture the contra-cultural values Muslims WILL increasingly evidence. Pan-Islamic revolutionary fervor will grow, in direct response to greater contact with the western value system, and the feeling that the very poorest of these nations have been disenfranchised. They are reluctant to blame their own Islamic Shariah-based societies, and are duped by their clerics into blaming the Western World for all their ills. The world will, sadly, taste the venom of these snakes, through weapons of mass destruction . . . it's only a matter of time. Wake up today, or start shopping for a prayer rug and compass. To the Muslims, the Crusades have NOT ended. I am eager to agree.

low impact warfare is a specific u.s. poltoltcy particolarly in south and central america "the college of the americas"is a terrorist training programme based at ft benning georgia

With regard to the writer who posted about the Muslim 'hydra-headed' threat: I would agree, except that a very interesting piece on 'Newsnight'last night (24th March 2005) rather changed my mind. It was about a meeting between high-up representatives of several Muslim 'terrorist' groups, principally Hamas and Hezbollah, as I recall, and some Americans who were ex-government officials (including CIA)or current non-government organisation officials. The meeting was held in Lebanon and brokered by a now well-known ex-MI6 operative who has been a major player in many 'peace processes', including that of Northern Ireland.

The most important point I got from the whole programme was one made by an ex-CIA official. He said that there is absolutely no point in lumping together all Muslim organisations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Al-Quaeda, and refusing to distinguish between them, because there IS a difference between Al-Quaeda, whose raison d'etre is absolute confrontation with the West, and Hezbollah and Hamas, whose interest, believe it or not, lies in some type of rapprochement with the West. If we just lump them all together and refuse to distinguish between them then all we do is create more enemies.

However, I would also observe that the winds of democratic change blowing through the Middle East, which are part of the reason Hezbollah and Hamas are more keen to affect rapprochement and attend a meeting like this, have been created by the force of American and British action in Iraq, and the subsequent Iraq election which it allowed. The impact of that election on the Middle East cannot be underestimated.