Life, liberty and politics after 9/11

Bin Laden and the arithmetic of war, by James Woudhuysen

Spiked has invited writers, thinkers and activists to outline what they think has been the most enduring legacy – if any – of the attacks on New York and Washington five years ago.

In the run-up to the anniversary of 9/11, CNN’s chief international affairs correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, broadcast In the Footsteps of Bin Laden, a lengthy profile of the man. It omitted America’s role in boosting him and his anti-Soviet forces during Moscow’s occupation of Afghanistan. It also lionised the man. Just as Western coverage of Iraq inspires bin Laden’s public announcements, so CNN rewards the man with more, almost grateful coverage.

The two deserve each other. Both do the new media manipulation. Bin Laden appears to give new force to what the military theorist Martin van Crefeld, in his prescient classic On Future War, termed Low Intensity Conflict. But what is new since 9/11 is neither the scale of terror and indeed anti-terror tactics, nor their reputed effect on everyday life, but the West’s patent lack of resolution and the lack of convincing objectives on both sides. This novelty is reflected in relatively low casualty figures.

Take the First and Second World Wars. Then the basic objective was clear: the preservation or extension of different empires. Millions died. Now take Vietnam. The Viet Cong knew they wanted independence for their country. But the best argument the US could adduce was the ‘domino’ theory about communism in Asia – never very convincing. Millions of Vietnamese died. Just 60,000 Americans perished.

After 9/11 despatched about 3,000 Americans, 7/7 in London killed about 50 Brits. Two thousand Americans have died in Iraq; the 100 Iraqis killed every day by suicide bombings, though awful, do not compare with the 10,000 an hour who died during the campaign on the Somme, back in 1916. By the standards of Israel’s past treatment of the Palestinians, the death toll of the recent war in Lebanon has also been modest.

Of course, even Carl von Clausewitz would agree that there is no iron law saying that today’s weak politics will always lead to a diminished death toll. But if bin Laden does not lack resolve, his recently stated desire to convert America to Islam suggests that he may lack direction. As for America’s desire to fight wars out of fear, but with no casualties, that also suggests the same thing.

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Full series of articles are available at http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/1602.