Phillipe Duhart at Who Are You To Accuse Me has a scary idea. I can't be sure how serious he is that we should use Russia's model in Chechnya as our guide in Iraq, but I think he is making the Mother of Understatements when he says: This might offend our liberal sensitivities. Ya think?
Monday, October 1, 2007
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No. I'm kidding. Sort of.
Actually, from an academic standpoint I'm interested in how conflicts get solved. And, objectively speaking, many civil wars, insurgencies, and terrorist campaigns find their resolutions in repression, the abrogation of human rights, and other ugly things we -- myself included -- find absolutely abhorrent.
The obverse is that there is some correlation between the opening of repressive societies and terrorism. Increases in the levels of political violence in Northern Ireland and the Basque country followed moderate reforms of political repression. Same with Iraq (non-state terror was minimal under Saddam). Terrorist need freedom to operate.
These are ugly facts. I don't endorse them, I just study them.
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