Tit ... Tat
How testily allies circle one another at times of duress. And how often do we now experience stressful events that seem to pit one ally against another. The United States appears to be the choice nation receiving attention from the enemies of democracies. Reasonably so, as it is the foremost exponent of democratic revelation, the world's technical, commercial, political, social powerhouse. Along with being also the world's superior policing agency, occasionally lapsing into the world's first-order occupying force.The countries of the Middle East fairly radiate resentment and anger toward America. Islamic countries instinctively abhor their status as second-class in industry, science, technology, economics, as a result of their latterly traditional prohibitions against un-Islamic pursuits. Sufficiently unenlightened as to eschew the printing press, keeping pious Muslims enslaved to their medieval-inspired traditions of religion first and foremost and advising every aspect of existence, they fell behind in the rush to modernity.
And the United States is the very exemplar of modernity, and power and prestige. As the world's senior policing agency it is also on tap for taking responsibility for doing its part both in establishing order, and disorder, reflecting its penchant to interfere politically, militarily and socially in the affairs of other countries of the world. As a moral force, impaired as it is by its own sturdy level of hubristic self-regard, it has both inspired and degraded international situations for both good and for ill.
Its political institutions, its culture, heritage and social constructs are admired the world over, and held to contempt as well. The country has latterly failed to advance its own interests internationally through the misfortune of poor choices made by its various governmental executive administrations, and to defend itself adequately from outside violence impacting its interior spaces. When it fails to protect itself from atrocities visited upon it by its enemies it searches for answers abroad.
And it finds those answers in accusing other countries of laxity in their international duties. Senior American figures in the U.S. intelligence community and the executive branch of U.S. government routinely find fault with the intelligence and protective structures of their allies to explain why their own internal security has so often failed. Thus, in the latest attack on the U.S. by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who failed to ignite an explosive on board an American plane, the finger of blame pointed at the U.K.
Claiming that Britain was responsible for nurturing Islamic extremism through neglect. Which, to be sure, does speak truth, but which also does not exonerate the United States from its colossal security blunders in ignoring warnings from a variety of responsible sources with respect to this jihadist's intentions, nor its own laxity in issuing a visa, and enabling him to board an American plane headed for the U.S. after security failed to pick up explosives in his clothing.
In its own defence, Britain has taken to the public its own version, that it more than adequately gave warning to American intelligence agents a year earlier that this man heading for a Detroit airborne massacre had links to jihadists. American President Barack Obama is quite right in assigning a certain level of blame on his own administration, claiming "systemic" intelligence failures.
The question now is, what does he intend to do to remedy this ongoing situation, recalling failures on a continual basis, from 9/11 to the Fort Hood military medic jihadist, to the current aborted jihad attack on the U.S. Causing the country to finally recognize the necessity of what it has attempted to avoid; ethnic profiling, with travellers from 14 countries now undergoing mandatory enhanced screening for U.S.-bound flights.
And then?
Labels: Terrorism, Traditions, United States
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, January 05, 2010
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