generalspeaking

Eastern Tribal Mystique

There is nothing whatever rational or reasonable about religion. And religion intertwined with tribalism, well steeped in a medieval mindset, aged and leavened by traditions of mistrust of others, through constant incidents of invasions and of war, results in attitudes and perceptions not quite amenable to the understanding of representatives of other cultures, societies, religions, politics. Aside from the fact that, given all the above, there has always been a strain and a divide and a resentment prevailing between East and West.

Prevailing values of each are anathema to the other. What is lawful and needful to one is illegal and reprehensible to the other. A full meeting of minds rising toward a potential for understanding and acceptance is an illusion. Little wonder at the consternation expressed by the West in attempting to come to grips with the East. At no time more imperative than the present, where religions have collided, and cultures clashed in an obstacle course of attempts to mollify, and then pacify, and then arrest the march of fanatical Islam.

Five of the seven assassinated CIA agents established at the base in Khost, eastern Afghanistan, were said to represent the minds of those most deeply steeped in an understanding of Eastern custom, religion, politics and concerns. They were informed intelligence agents with long years of experience, confident that they were more than capable of dealing with a double agent, to acquire from him intelligence that would lead them to capturing al-Qaeda's second in command. They knew little of Eastern cunning and patience, and a trap well laid to entice them to trust, and to exhibit that trust by honour.

The Jordanian doctor and Islamist, member of al-Qaeda and recruiter of dedicated jihadis, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, secured the trust of Jordanian intelligence officials, who led him to the introduction to and trust of CIA agents eager for an intelligence break-through. These agents honoured Mr. al-Balawi by demonstrating their trust in his having turned against al-Qaeda to serve the interests of the United States, by conspicuously permitting him entry into their inner sanctum without the irritating preliminaries of a personal body search.

Mirroring effectively an earlier event where yet another supposed al-Qaeda turncoat, Abdullah al-Asiri had flown from Yemen to personally meet with Saudi Arabia's security chief, prince Mohammed bin Nayef of the Saudi royal family, to surrender himself for rehabilitation. When in fact, armed with the very same kind of explosive used in the failed December 25 Detroit-destined airplane plot that failed, he blew himself up in an attempt to assassinate the prince. An event well known to U.S. intelligence and which should have forewarned these CIA agents.

These events and the loss of the 7 CIA senior agents, along with the Jordanian escort - member of Jordan's royal family - of the doctor-assassin, caused the top NATO and U.S. military intelligence chief in Afghanistan to moan over the lack of accurate intelligence in their search for an end to the Taliban insurgency. "I don't want to say we are clueless, but we are. We're no more than a fingernail deep in our understanding of the environment", admitted one operations officer. Leading to questions whether other trusted counter-agents working with the U.S. may be moles working for al-Qaeda.

The ability of U.S. intelligence to take any kind of accurate measurement of the strength of the Taliban and of al-Qaeda is severely compromised by their line of thinking, so unlike that of their adversaries. Whose strategy is born of centuries of coping with mind-hardening conditions so unlike any experienced by those of the West. Who see as weakness any attempts by the foreign invaders to forge an alliance with them, hoping to separate the 'moderates' from the fanatics, and to wean those they feel are less prone to radical violence away from the hard-core Taliban.

Incapable of imagining the extent to which al-Qaeda and any of its growing affiliates are capable of indoctrinating recruits with the divine message of sacrifice and personal surrender of their lives to the needs of Islam, in acceding to the demands of Allah, their god of conquest. The very fundamentals of Islamist ardor and the depth of their commitment to the ideal of jihad, to rid land sacred to Islam from defilement in the vile occupying presence of foreigners, infidels, has no counterpart in Western thought and tradition.

Labels: Particularities/Peculiarities, Political Realities, Terrorism, Traditions

posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, January 06, 2010