U.S. Politics Online: A Political Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Mumbai style attack could easily occur here

goober · #10 (**permalink**) 11-30-2008

99% of suicide attacks occur when the uniformed armed forces of a democracy occupy the homeland of the attackers.
Nobody used suicide attacks against the USSR, nobody uses suicide attacks against the Peoples Republic of China, or Syria or North Korea.
The victims are the US, the UK, Spain, India, Israel, Indonesia and even Pakistan.
Because a suicide attack is directed at public opinion, and public opinion can move a democracy, it won't move a country like North Korea.
When democracies keep to themselves, defend their own borders and come to the aid of other democracies, they are not attacked. When they occupy foreign lands, they are a logical target of suicide attacks.
Terrorism is what a militarily strong democracy calls attacks that bypass it's military might and strike directly at public opinion.
Mumbai was an attack by a group that was responding to Indian occupation of it's homeland, the attack was aimed at the Indian public opinion, and the attackers hope it will move the situation in Kashmir.
Our concept of security is based on the idea that if you try to attack us you are dead, it deters everyone who wishes to live more than they wish to harm us, but it's useless against people who don't care if they die.
To end this kind of attack we need to resolve the underlying conflicts that create it.
That means coming up with a way to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine, to end the Indian occupation of Kashmir, to end the US occupation of Iraq.
Everybody says they want these things resolved, but there are those who profit by them continuing.
Until these issues are resolved, the attacks will continue, there is no military solution, if there was then it would have worked long ago, because we have thrown tremendous resources into that avenue of attack. It just doesn't work.