This is a guest-post by Chris Blackburn
With the current impetuous on finding some sort of anti-thesis to war in Afghanistan and elsewhere. There has been a whole host of buzzwords and maxims coming from the media and international community of talking heads.
We all agree that since 9/11 there has been one strategic blunder after the other: from the war in Iraq to illegal renditions of terrorist suspects to Guantanamo Bay. It is clear that war is failing to help meet our strategic objectives, people are growing disillusioned, but there is an alternative answer to what is becoming the fashionable in-phrase within the conflict averse diplomatic community and apologists of radical Islamism which is less war war, more jaw jaw.
It’s a very brave addition. Why don’t we put ‘law’ in-between the war and the jaw. The global war on terror or struggle against extremism (what is it currently called?) has suffered on all sides because of the lack of anyone to uphold international law; ‘law law’ can become an effective solution to these important questions.
If we look at current developments in Bangladesh we can start to see a little more hope. The Bangladeshi people have decided that they want to bring the war criminals of 1971 to justice. They haven’t used bombs or infantry and to date no collateral damage has taken place. The Bangladeshi people see the war crimes trial as a way of halting the culture of impunity and a way of tackling religious fundamentalism and corruption within the country.
Soon, the United States will put Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on trial for his role as the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. The trial will be controversial and perhaps show why the US has been trying to pluck combatants off the battle field then sending them on to CIA ghost prisons; denying them habeas corpus. The majority of the orange jumper-suit darlings hold information which the US has wanted to avoid facing. Information which will make the 9/11 Report look like history’s biggest white-wash. So please, when answering the questions of whether we should look at engagement rather than counter-productive war for wars sake; lets give ‘law law’ a chance.
One Comment
Thats an excellent paradigm, lets begin with incriminating the dynamic duo first, Bush and Blair, once we’ve set the standard the world will follow suit.
Otherwise, I’m sure well resort back to what we know best, carpet bombing, trumped up charges of war, lies, deceit, black ops, random kidnappings, human rights abuses and how could I forget, white phosphorus droppings on Afghanistan’s civilian population.
Had we adopted your modus operandi earlier we may not be staring defeat down the barrel of the gun, and to a bunch of ill equipped yeomans. Too little too late, nonetheless nice attempt.