tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13589532.post2128751547021424444..comments2023-10-09T04:11:47.358-07:00Comments on Not A Potted Plant: Amateur HourBurt Likkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060980744675990412noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13589532.post-78573370457522451032009-11-24T20:55:03.466-08:002009-11-24T20:55:03.466-08:00I often wondered myself about the distinction betw...I often wondered myself about the distinction between enemy combatant and POW, and which should apply to 'Al Qaeda' prisoners.<br /><br />But then I watched the BBC documentary "The Power of Nightmares" and I started thinking that maybe 'Al Qaeda' doesn't really exist as an 'international terror network' but more as a loosely-organized gang of independent radicals. They don't walk around with laminated Al Qaeda membership cards and go read the Koran in caves between vigorous calisthenic workouts on monkey bars in the desert. They are disjointed cells who work independently. You can't fight that militarily. You need police surveillance for that. KSM was the WTC mastermind. Bin Laden was just a financier. They are not an 'organization'. To have an organization, you need accountants, managers, employees. You need a board of directors, a chain of command, mission statements, code of conduct, sick leave policy, vacation schedules, employee policies, etc. This is not an organization, this is a club at best. Angry fanatics who get together after work to discuss plots. The difference between the 'mafia' and 'Al Qaeda' is that the mafioso or yakuza is in it for personal gain. It's a job. The 'terrorist' is in it for obsessive ideology. That type of mentality is simply not compatible with organizational structure.<br /><br />If they were building bombs or shooting at US troops, treat them as POWs. If they weren't doing any of that, my question is, WTF were they doing and why are you holding them? If you have suspicions about them, well tap their phone lines, put them on watch lists, have the CIA steal their mail whatever. Bottom line is, they don't have submarines or aircraft carriers, and no tanks, no helicopters... and they don't even have a chance to get a visa to come to the US. How much of a risk are they posing to national security?Friendly Technocrathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09519350934207538519noreply@blogger.com