Management 101: Identify the Root Causes
Every manager is taught that understanding the root causes of a problem is the first step in solving it. Somehow, this simple technique appears to be totally ignored in the ‘war on terror’ in USA. Why do the terrorists attack us? The answer given by our politicians (starting with the President) is, ‘ because they hate our freedom and democracy’. If anyone suggests that there may be more to it, and we should try to ‘understand' them, it will be political suicide! One will be immediately branded as a weakling or a sissy, not capable of protecting our country. Naturally, no one has dared to point out this deficiency in our the terror fighting tactics. Everyone goes on about anticipating and preventing the terrorist attacks. The recent bombings in London show how futile this can be. London has one of the best intelligence system (fully entrenched in the local Muslim population), has an elaborate video surveillance system, and the whole city was on high security alert for the G-8 Conference. Still the terrorists struck. I do not think there is anyway to stop the terrorist attacks unless we find and tackle the real reasons behind them. Yesterday’s statement by Prime Minister Tony Blair, calling for addressing the ‘root causes’ of terrorism (‘lack of democracy, deprivation, and conflict in Middle East’), is a refreshing development. Now, if only USA also follows it ....
posted by PJ @ 4:53 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Great Britain was never a target for Muslim extremists until the invasion of Iraq. Blair's policies have been a disaster in terms of the security of the country.
Similarly, the US became a target for the Jihadists after US troops were allowed into Saudi Arabia. This was viewed as an affront by strict followers of the Wahabi sect.
Osama bin Laden's main gripe against the Americans and the Saudi government has been this "occupation" that the Saudi's permitted.
US policies with regard to Israel and the Palestinians has been the other irritant but terrorism against the US and US interests reached a new level of sophistication and intensity after US troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia.
You are right that Bush is entirely simplistic when he argues that democracy will somehow be the panacea for all these ills. Equally simplistic is the notion that if Iraq becomes democratic then other Middle Eastern nations will do the same - a kind of domino theory of democracy spreading like wildfire. There is no support for such an assumption. After all, if the spread of democracy were so easily achieved by a neighboring country having a democratic form of government, then Pakistan should have been a democracy a long time ago since its neighbor, India, with whom it shares many cultural bonds and similarities, has been a democracy for much of the almost 60 years since its independence.
This is what happens when people (the administration) starts to abandon all reason and drive one fundamental.
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