American Spectator Archive

Isis, Islam, Intervention

Reality on the ground is often quite different than what appears in news commentary and even Executive Department briefing papers. This is essentially true regarding terrorism in general. The statement has been made that ISIS has been effectively defeated in Syria and the Taliban reduced in strength in Afghanistan. These are the reasons for withdrawing U.S. military forces from these combat areas. Unfortunately, such a definitive circumstance is belied by the reality on the ground. To begin with, the various organized terrorist groups in the Middle East may have different names and even sponsors, but they all share the same strategic goal. They are all Islamic in character, desire to remove western influence/control from a chosen sector – and in one form or another ultimately gain dominance over economic assets such as oil production and sale. Sometimes the real ambition is simply to gain unrestricted power for power's sake. To complicate things further, the number of “soldie...

Anatomy Of Terrorism

It is said that terrorism is the weapon of the weak against the strong. It's a saying that sounds good if one is seeking to defend or justify terrorist acts. However, it is just not true – at least if one is willing to consider blowing up a peaceful civilian structure as a terrorist act. The civilians in the building are hardly strong: they are defenseless and unprepared. The real strength lies with the terrorist bombers. They have all the advantages – weapons, organization, secrecy, initiative and commitment. Terrorism as a device is available to all. It's just a matter of utilizing a particular form of weapon for use in spreading fear while degrading the physical image of a something that is considered as playing part in the maintenance of order in an enemy's infrastructure. This means everything from community activity and edifices to their civil and security services. In other words, destabilizing any aspect of orderly life is a target. Of course, the military is not ...

Russia And China From An Intel Standpoint

It must be a very difficult job to be a Russian or Chinese intelligence officer these days, It's not the strength of the opposition – though of course that's always a consideration. The main reason is the lack of clear purpose. The world - the secret world that they deal in – is much more complicated these days. Sometimes the old enemy for these well-practiced operators is viewed differently by the officers' own political superiors. Frankly, it must be very hard to keep up with the changing perceptions of the leader-class who themselves seem to be playing “outside the lines” of historical perceptions. Of course, there is a difference between the two countries, so we will discuss them separately. First, the Russians – While the Western press and novelists (often indistinguishable) remain preoccupied with the Russian of previous decades, much has changed both in form and spirit in the Russian security apparat. To begin with, the international charter of what once was th...

George H. Wittman: Writer on Current and Foreign Affairs

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