Bomb Them with Butter
Bribe Them with Hope
by Kent Madin
A military response, particularly an attack on Afghanistan, is exactly
what the terrorists want. It will strengthen and swell their small but
fanatical ranks.
Instead, bomb Afghanistan with butter, with rice, bread, clothing and
medicine. It will cost less than conventional arms, poses no threat
of US casualties and just might get the populace thinking that maybe
the Taliban don't have the answers. After three years of drought and
with starvation looming, let's offer the Afghani people the vision of
a new future. One that includes full stomachs.
Bomb them with information. Video players and cassettes of world leaders,
particularly Islamic leaders, condemning terrorism.
Carpet the country with magazines and newspapers showing the horror
of terrorism committed by their "guest". Blitz them with laptop
computers and DVD players filled with a perspective that is denied them
by their government. Saturation bombing with hope will mean that some
of it gets through. Send so much that the Taliban can't collect and
hide it all.
The Taliban are telling their people to prepare for Jihad. Instead,
let's give the Afghani people their first good meal in years. Seeing
your family fully fed and the prospect of stability in terms of food
and a future is a powerful deterrent to martyrdom. All we ask in return
is that they, as a people, agree to enter the civilized world. That
includes handing over terrorists in their midst.
In responding to terrorism we need to do something different. Something
unexpected..something that addresses the root of the problem. We need
to take away the well of despair, ignorance and brutality from which
the Osama bin Laden's of the world water their gardens of terror.
My first interest is practical, not humanitarian. Whoever planned the
attacks is very clever. They have defined the playing field. They have
also thought a lot about the endgame, and how to respond to the next
phase (American retaliation). It wouldn't surprise me if the same care
and planning that apparently went on for more than a year in the US
for the NY attack, has also been going on in Pakistan amongst the military,
religious and civilian population. What greater coup than to goad the
US into committing military forces, and then have Pakistan collapse
under us into an Islamic fundamentalist state.. complete with nuclear
weapons.
So my concern is that the US may be being led into a trap. Our breast
thumping, flag waving response is just too predictable. My answer is
to do something totally different and totally unexpected, to take back
the initiative and define the playing field on our terms, instead of
theirs.
As to bombing with butter.. I not only believe it to be an appropriate
anti metaphor for war but actually a realistic option. There are many
people around the world, sick, starving and in need who could stand
to be bombed with butter. I would chose to bomb Afghanistan now because
it makes both geopolitical and humanitarian good sense. I am not opposed
to "bribing" people, whether with hope or money. The real
world is never and never will be a pure and clean place. The thing about
accepting "bribery" as a tool is that it requires so much
more self discipline, so much more introspection in order to use it
wisely. We think of "bribery" as something done for money
that is evil. But it is a way of getting someone's attention. And you
can't have a meaningful conversation with someone if they are not paying
attention.
I liken bombing with butter to Akido. If you know that your opponent
is expecting a certain move, that means his energy and focus is fixed
and rigid. Doing something different throws him off balance. You have
to find that point of pressure where the Taliban's hold on Afghanistan,
like the WTC towers, suddenly collapses under it's own rigidity. We
actually have the technical capability to carpet bomb Afghanistan with
food and information. We can reach the people in the hinterlands and
the cities. We could make them start to question what is happening and
we can offer them an alternative.
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