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COMMENTARY
October 1, 2011
Poor soldiers
The death of Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen this week, by whatever means (the more satisfying for being the result of a U.S. drone attack), will have little effect on the international operations of al-Qaeda.To say "none" would be too conservative. The fluently English-speaking terrorist, born in New Mexico and with American degrees in civil engineering and education, was a serious nuisance. He was the "inspiration" behind the Fort Hood massacre in Texas, the Christmas "underpants" bomber in Detroit, and the failed car bomber of New York's Times Square. Inspiration is intangible, however. The man specialized in promoting "lone wolf," sucker-punch terror hits in the U.S. and U.K., becoming something of a media sensation. Fallen he may be, but new stars are born every day. Awlaki was a psychopathic piece of work. While that observation might seem self-evident, the implications are seldom fleshed out. Psychos in fact make poor soldiers. The very lack of human empathy makes them incapable of detailed command, or of following orders for that matter. The focus upon the glory of death and destruction distracts them from operational efficiency. Psychos are better cast as charismatic leaders, the way Awlaki was. Or as the late Osama bin Laden: a hero to many from afar, but from close up, just a sick, narcissist puppy, watching videos of himself on his TV all day. Were I a management consultant to al-Qaeda, I would long since have recommended a much tighter organizational structure, and a results-oriented corporate culture at the top. (A publicity consultant they do not need.) It remains dependent on rank amateurs in the field. Retrospectively, we can see that the entire A-team in the United States expended itself in the 9/11 performance. Given the arrogance of its will, and the softness of its targets, it is actually surprising that al-Qaeda has accomplished so little - beyond launching the "homeland security" bureaucracies - over the two decades since it became a fixture in world news. "Normal" psychopaths - which is to say, the kind the police seek after any grisly crime - become hands-on killers. But the killers of al-Qaeda are psychos of a special kind. Part of their problem is that they are all intellectuals. They come from homes with lots of money, and a view of life perhaps over-literate. They are more into talking than doing, and when it comes to a practicable scheme, characteristically too smart by half. In this respect, typical intellectuals. Few, if any, appear to be observant Muslims, for the religion interests them only as an ideology. Their desire for publicity and adulation makes them easier to track than most criminals, and were it not for politically correct constraints on western security agencies, a terrorist like Awlaki could have been collected years ago. This is because he went right across the States, and through many mosques in England, openly preaching terrorist violence. He was a star of fairly well-produced Internet entertainments, directed at disaffected Muslim youth. (This was thanks largely to his talented American sidekick, Samir Khan, who might have gone far in the advertising industry.) And as we know, he was in email conversation with quite a few, who considered him their "spiritual adviser." He might as well have had "terrorist recruiter" printed on his name card. By the time he retreated to his native Yemen, long after 9/11, he was over-familiar to western police and spy services. In the good old days, a man preaching violence to susceptible young audiences would be picked up for fairly thorough questioning, then locked away. In these days of "human rights" vigilantism, the police must wait patiently until bystanders are dead, before tipping their hand. Or hope they can catch their man in flagrante delicto, preparing his assault. To act faster would invite charges of "profiling." Fortunately, the U.S. president is above the law (especially when a Democrat), and Barack Obama has the luxury of pursuing push-button vendettas, in which he names a terrorist and the U.S. military then goes out to kill him (after he's had a fair chance to hide). This spares the embarrassment of incarcerating him at some place like Guantanamo Bay. It also relieves his pursuers of the politically thankless task of "debriefing" the subject, through which urgent information about his interests and connections might be obtained. (I was a great fan of "waterboarding" for this purpose.) In Yemen itself, Awlaki was not even an incidental player. He was merely using the Islamist revolution for cover. His Internet messaging would have no resonance in Yemeni society, even were it presented in colloquial Arabic. The revolution in the streets of Sana'a is organized by much more practical Islamists. Al-Qaeda was and remains a theatrical production. Our real enemies are countries like Iran - of which there will be more when the Arab Spring is finished. David Warren
© Ottawa Citizen
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