EWI’s Annual Worldwide Security Conference - End of Day 1
Some interesting presentations and some just giving the party line from Moscow and Beijing. There are a couple of points arising from a broad range of speakers that Civil liberties are key in defeating terrorism, but these liberties must be promoted abroad and defended at home.
I caused a minor stiff in a workshop on WMD by asking the panel to define what is and what is not a WMD. Three replies and three different definitions. I gave several examples of 'terror' attacks and was told that the sarin attack in Tokyo was a WMD because theoretically it could have caused large numbers of casualties, then I was told that WMD specifically only reffers to Chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Then the Chair pointed out that in his indictment, bin Laden was charged with setting off a WMD with his truck bombs in Kenya and Tanzania.
So, we're at war with something we can't define (terrorism) and must take resolute action against something we can't define (WMD). So, how can we win? Who has ever won a battle against an undefinable enemy?
Tomorrow I'm going to hear some neo-cons. Double expresso for breakfast.
It's perpetual war for
It's perpetual war for perpetual peace. We're not supposed to *win*, after which we can get our civil liberties back. So defining it in terms of woolly impossibilities suits them fine.
Anyway, even if we did *win*, we still wouldn't get our civil liberties back, because war might just start again unexpectedly, and we need to take precautions.
That scenario would be like building another version of Trident to target an adversary that everyone can see clearly no longer exists, although the government tells us might spontaneously spring up in the future with a new fully formed massive ballistic nuclear capability.
Far better to start off with something ephemeral so that there is no chance of an inconvenient independently observable fact getting in the way.
i'm looking forward to
i'm looking forward to asking them what the definition of 'victory' is...
That's what I would like to
That's what I would like to do too.
For the first time in history we are at war with - with what? An abstraction - an idea - that's what. An idea, the definition of which is infinitely flexible and arbitrated by those responsible for waging it.
I would ask, just who are we supposed to negotiate armistice terms with too. The whole thing is an absurdity and goatchurch gets it about right with his 'perpetual war for perpetual peace' post.
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