Maxwell Kennedy relembra-nos que o terrorismo suicida não é um acto de guerra recente, ao historiar a acção dos Kamikaze japoneses no final da II Guerra Mundial. E identifica as causas que levaram aos actos desesperados dos nipónicos com aquelas que terão estado na origem do ataque à Twin Towers em 11 de Setembro de 2001.
.
Tenho as maiores dúvidas que por detrás de actos idênticos tenham estado razões semelhantes.
Os japoneses enveredaram por acções suicidas numa altura em que, reconhecidamente, não tinham quaisquer meios para evitar a derrota que eles próprios tinham engendrado, aderindo ao Eixo, entretanto derrotado, enquanto os suicidas islâmicos, que atacaram as torres, fizeram-no em nome da conquista pelo Islão do poder que a presença norte-americana no Médio Oriente impede. Em 1945, o Japão estava à beira da derrota; em 2001 a Al-Qaeda lançou o seu maior ataque terrorista de conquista. Os kamikaze foram incumbidos de actos deseperados; os suicidas islâmicos foram induzidos pelas promessas no Além. Os kamikaze japoneses terminariam com o termo da guerra, qualquer que fosse o seu resultado; os suicidas islâmicos continuarão a sacrificar-se por uma guerra sem fim.
.
The Other Suicide Bombers
"Danger's Hour" describes how one of the most devastating attacks against Americans happened in an ocean 60 years ago.
Maxwell Taylor Kennedy reminds us in his worthy new book, suicide bombing did not begin recently in the Middle East or South Asia. The worst suicide attack against Americans before Sept. 11, 2001, happened six decades ago, in the Pacific ocean off the coast of Okinawa.
On May 11, 1945, three days after the surrender of Germany, two Japanese pilots dive-bombed the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill and, trailing their bombs by a heartbeat, crashed their Zeros into the flaming flight deck of the ship. This kamikaze attack on the flagship of Task Force 58, which was laying siege to Okinawa, was a shocking example of how a determined enemy could score a significant tactical success in asymmetrical warfare.
On May 11, 1945, three days after the surrender of Germany, two Japanese pilots dive-bombed the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill and, trailing their bombs by a heartbeat, crashed their Zeros into the flaming flight deck of the ship. This kamikaze attack on the flagship of Task Force 58, which was laying siege to Okinawa, was a shocking example of how a determined enemy could score a significant tactical success in asymmetrical warfare.
(...)
As Kennedy notes, "the Army Air Force's B-29s were utilized largely to carpet-bomb Japanese cities and military-industrial targets. They could have been better deployed bombing strategic transportation hubs and the airfields used to launch the kamikazes that were devastating U.S. naval forces around Okinawa." So the success of suicide bombers, in World War II and today, points to a vulnerability not just in our technology but in our military policy, which relies a bit too much on advanced weaponry and overwhelming force. As Kennedy notes at the end of his book, "a few determined men, willing to give their lives for a cause, may block that policy from ever being fulfilled." ·
As Kennedy notes, "the Army Air Force's B-29s were utilized largely to carpet-bomb Japanese cities and military-industrial targets. They could have been better deployed bombing strategic transportation hubs and the airfields used to launch the kamikazes that were devastating U.S. naval forces around Okinawa." So the success of suicide bombers, in World War II and today, points to a vulnerability not just in our technology but in our military policy, which relies a bit too much on advanced weaponry and overwhelming force. As Kennedy notes at the end of his book, "a few determined men, willing to give their lives for a cause, may block that policy from ever being fulfilled." ·
.
more
more
--------
2 comments:
Good point. Islamic terrorism is not a sign of desperation but a tactic in a wider strategic goal. This is actually a reason why economist have increasingly become involved in understanding conflict.
Thank you, Atin.
Furthermore, the Japanese were fighting a declared war; terrorism attacks from the shadows.
Post a Comment