Why can't we all just get along?
Rodney King
Asymmetrical warfare. We sure are hearing this term quite a bit these days. What the heck does it mean anyway? Dictionary.com defines asymmetrical warfare as follows:
"Warfare in which opposing groups or nations have unequal military resources, and the weaker opponent uses unconventional weapons and tactics, as terrorism, to exploit the vulnerabilities of the enemy."
Okay - I get it. We are involved in a war with an enemy who hates us. In the past, should war break out with an symmetrical enemy, you could negotiate a truce or surrender. You could look back on what started the war, and then try to make amends for any transgressions you perpetrated against the other side. Today is a different story. We are at war with an enemy who claims no country, wears no uniform and could care less about our surrender. It is a war we did not start - according to our thinking. In the minds of our enemies, we have been pandering for years in an area of the world where we are both unwanted and unwelcome.
Because of our geography, many have referred to our country as "Fortress America". We are hard to attack. The Soviets could have done it using ICBMs. However, under the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), thank God that never happened. From a conventional warfare perspective, attacking our country is still very hard. Asymmetrical Warfare evens the odds a bit. Terrorists using asymmetrical warfare can drive a small boat into to a well defended warship like the USS Cole and blow a hole in it. Besides killing or wounding dozens of innocent sailors, it put a highly sophisticated war ship out of commission for months. They can hijack airplanes and fly them into our buildings. By doing so, the cost of thousands of innocent American lives as well as the financial impact was enormous, almost incalculable. The 9/11 attack changed our country.
So here we are, living in the new battlefield using asymmetrical warfare. We have to be on guard 24/7 to ensure we are not "sucker punched" again. Our enemies will go after any target, hard or soft. Killing innocents, women, children, babies is of no concern. Our response is to fight back using non-conventional techniques in return. Death from the skies. Silent, unexpected and rapid death using Hellfire missiles fired from drone aircraft. We are killing people, and lots of them, using drones controlled like a video game from a desk hundreds or thousands of miles from the battlefield. We are using them overseas and many fear they could next be used domestically against Americans who side with terrorists.
Many times I have wondered if this is our future. If this is the future of mankind. East against West, Islam against Christian, poor against rich, or what ever divide can be imagined. I really don't want to live like this. I want mankind to work together for common good, common progress. We have given up a huge chunk of personal liberty and freedom just to stay safe. Until we can once again learn to get along, asymmetrical warfare will continue. We will continue to come up with new and creative ways to hurt each other rather than help each other. May God show us the mercy we cannot afford each other.
"Warfare in which opposing groups or nations have unequal military resources, and the weaker opponent uses unconventional weapons and tactics, as terrorism, to exploit the vulnerabilities of the enemy."
Okay - I get it. We are involved in a war with an enemy who hates us. In the past, should war break out with an symmetrical enemy, you could negotiate a truce or surrender. You could look back on what started the war, and then try to make amends for any transgressions you perpetrated against the other side. Today is a different story. We are at war with an enemy who claims no country, wears no uniform and could care less about our surrender. It is a war we did not start - according to our thinking. In the minds of our enemies, we have been pandering for years in an area of the world where we are both unwanted and unwelcome.
Because of our geography, many have referred to our country as "Fortress America". We are hard to attack. The Soviets could have done it using ICBMs. However, under the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), thank God that never happened. From a conventional warfare perspective, attacking our country is still very hard. Asymmetrical Warfare evens the odds a bit. Terrorists using asymmetrical warfare can drive a small boat into to a well defended warship like the USS Cole and blow a hole in it. Besides killing or wounding dozens of innocent sailors, it put a highly sophisticated war ship out of commission for months. They can hijack airplanes and fly them into our buildings. By doing so, the cost of thousands of innocent American lives as well as the financial impact was enormous, almost incalculable. The 9/11 attack changed our country.
So here we are, living in the new battlefield using asymmetrical warfare. We have to be on guard 24/7 to ensure we are not "sucker punched" again. Our enemies will go after any target, hard or soft. Killing innocents, women, children, babies is of no concern. Our response is to fight back using non-conventional techniques in return. Death from the skies. Silent, unexpected and rapid death using Hellfire missiles fired from drone aircraft. We are killing people, and lots of them, using drones controlled like a video game from a desk hundreds or thousands of miles from the battlefield. We are using them overseas and many fear they could next be used domestically against Americans who side with terrorists.
Many times I have wondered if this is our future. If this is the future of mankind. East against West, Islam against Christian, poor against rich, or what ever divide can be imagined. I really don't want to live like this. I want mankind to work together for common good, common progress. We have given up a huge chunk of personal liberty and freedom just to stay safe. Until we can once again learn to get along, asymmetrical warfare will continue. We will continue to come up with new and creative ways to hurt each other rather than help each other. May God show us the mercy we cannot afford each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment