RALEIGH – This will be my last entry in my Daily Journal until next Wednesday, as I am off to celebrate Christmas with friends and family. But this year’s holiday seasons feels a little off somehow. How can we sing about peace on earth and goodwill toward men as our country seems poised not at the end of a successful campaign against terror but at the very beginning of a long, and possibly dangerous, campaign against Islamic extremism and fascism.
Consider the current state of just that phase of the war pitting Osama bin Laden’s far-flung network of terrorists and terrorist states against the U.S., Israel, and the rest of the free world. In Afghanistan, mopping up operations continue, most importantly the search for bin Laden (one hopes for his remains in the hollow of a mountain) and other key Al Qaeda and Taliban thugs. In a country strewn with warlords, schemers, foreign zealots, and land mines, our forces remain in great danger there.
Look east and south into the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan, which houses much of that country’s Pashtun population. Fleeing Afghans are probably hiding among their ethnic kinsmen there. Someone will need to go in and get them, either locals to claim cash awards from the U.S. or, eventually, American and British commandos. If bin Laden is there, he likely won’t stay for long, so our patience with the Taliban-infested Pakistani intelligence and security forces cannot be endless.
Go further east and north and you will find an escalating conflict between autocratic Pakistan and democratic India in and about the disputed region of Kashmir and Jammu. It has a Muslim majority but most of the area is ruled by India. Bin Laden has aided Kashmiri separatists who are bombing civilians. Less than two weeks ago, gunmen, apparently Muslim extremists linked to Al Qaeda, tried to storm India’s parliament and kill its members. India is promising swift retaliation while Pakistan rattles its nuclear sabers. Of all the potential fronts in the conflict, this is the most unstable and dangerous to world peace.
At the southeast corner of the continent one can find the nations of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Each has at least one Islamic party or insurgency with ties to Al Qaeda and the goal of overthrowing the existing government. The first two countries are majority Muslim but insufficiently fascist to please their bin Ladenist elements. In the Philippines, a small Muslim minority is trying to foment an insurrection against the central government. One of their tactics has been to capture, torture, and kill innocent civilians. They are holding an American missionary couple hostage, and have already beheaded another of our citizens. The Bush administration is aiding the Philippine government in trying to root out the extremists, but more direct assistance may be needed soon.
In East Africa, a developing conflict between Ethiopia – not exactly the best friend one can imagine to the U.S. or to liberty – and its neighbors may well become another front in the war on terror. Sudan is a theocratic dictatorship that enslaves Christians and massacres its enemies. Somalia is a war-torn desert where terrorists have retained a significant presence. Both countries, again, have been bases for bin Laden’s minions, regardless of their current diplomatic noises. Some Somalis are calling for American intervention, as are loud voices in Ethiopia and another fearful neighbor, Kenya. Others are warning us off.
Finally, just over the sea from the Horn of Africa is the Arabian state of Yemen, which has its own history of hospitality to terrorists. Its leader now seems to want American help to root out its terrorist bands, having recently failed to nab them with his own forces.
Forget Iraq, Iran, and the Palestinian Authority (for now). These dangerous locales, all bearing the imprint of Osama bin Laden, are key flashpoints in the current crisis. How will America respond? I don’t know, but if we truly seek, as in the words of the song many will hear this holiday season, to “let there be peace on earth,” this question will have to be answered somehow.