Hearts and minds.
It's something I used to hear a lot while I was deployed to Iraq. Hearts and minds. We put a lot of effort into this concept. We spent American money at the markets and at falafel stands to keep the merchants friendly. We handed out soccer balls and candy to Iraqi children to combat the image of the evil American occupier. We set up points where Iraqis could come to receive medical treatment from our medics. We also helped repair schools and hospitals destroyed during the conflict; to give those children a place to congregate and learn; and to give people access to healthcare that was otherwise nonexistent. We provided security for people as they performed daily tasks; refilling benzene tanks, pumping sewage from the streets, or doing road work. We also paid the sewage truck operators and the road workers, using locals always to boost our status within the community. We spoke with local sheikhs and imams. We interacted with the people, learned their customs, and showed them the respect that they deserved. We drank tea with them. We broke bread with them.
The goal, always, was to make one thing very clear: We are not your enemy and you are not ours.
This approach had very positive effects in my area of operations. We, once the evil American occupiers, became the peace officers. People came to us with problems and, more importantly, with information. When we were attacked by terrorists the civilian populace became very annoyed with the agitators. And why not? We didn't even shoot our guns unless we were attacked. Sure, we shouldn't be there but they knew that we didn't want to be. We humanized ourselves. They saw us not as the faceless manifestation of American aggression but as guys from another country that were trying to do a job. That job? To help their community recover and grow after the horrible war that they had endured.
Before long, Iraqis began to take up arms against Al Qaeda in our area. When insurgents would show up in their town to plant improvised explosive devices on their newly repaired roads they would meet severe resistance. At a minimum, our neighborhood birdies would tell us who did what and where said what was. Occasionally, we would arrive to find that our new Iraqi friends had killed the potential terrorists and all we needed to do was clean up.
Hearts and minds.
These lessons have been learned by the American military over years and years of warfare. You fight an idea with an idea. Terrorists recruit by demonizing those that they fight. How do you convince a kid to blow himself up to kill a guy that gave him candy and soccer balls, that built his school, that rendered medical aid, or fed his family? How do you convince a man to blow up a guy's truck when the day before he was drinking tea with him and laughing? Sure, not everyone is changed by a simple gesture. There are true believers. These tactics aren't for them. We show Muslims that we are not the enemy by not being the enemy. By being the friend. By healing the wounds that we have inflicted. Muslims, like Christians, are a peaceful and forgiving people. They don't live for war or yearn for it. Jihad is the last resort of an oppressed and distraught person with no options left.
Donald Trump threatens our country with his anti-Muslim agenda. Banning Muslims from coming to the United States? This is a victory for ISIS. They just gained recruits all over the world.
I read a story today about a man who's mother, after living in this country since 1995, was denied re-entry to undergo medical care. She's dead now. How do you radicalize a moderate Muslim? Killing his mother is probably a good start.
- An edit. Apparently, the man that reported this is being accused of lying about it. Regardless of whether or not he did the anecdote has meaning. This disruption of travel, deliberately targeting Muslims, can and will cost people their lives. It's unfortunate that this man would lie as it hurts the cause but it doesn't change the fact that the Muslim ban serves more to radicalize and increase terrorism than to solve it.
A kid from Houston is currently being detained in Chicago because he went to Jordan to renew his visa. Jordan, a country that is not on the list of banned countries. They revoked his visa and locked him up. They took his phone. His brother says that the kid can only use the phone once a week for thirty minutes and that he is unable to see him. The official word is that he will be at a refugee center for up to two months. Sixteen years old. This is how you create a radical.
There are two possibilities in my mind.
1 - The Trump administration is clueless and incompetent. They have no idea what they're doing. They don't know how to fight terrorism. They're scared and they are lashing out.
I don't really believe this, though it sounds comforting when compared to the other possibility.
2 - The Trump administration knows exactly what it's doing. They know that this will create more radicals. They are deliberately antagonizing terrorists. They want terrorism to increase so that they can push for more control, more restrictions, and more terror. They want to use the hate and fear that they are creating to initiate mass deportations, mass incarcerations, and war. This was their plan. This is their agenda.
I don't want to believe this. I want America to be great, I want our country to prosper, but America doesn't prosper by victimizing the people that live here. When we attack our own people we all lose. We're supposed to be better. What happened to "One nation, indivisible"? That doesn't just mean the white Christians. That means all of us; immigrants and visitors included. We've gone from complaining about illegal immigration to attacking legal immigrants based solely on their religion.
Refugees and immigrants are not our enemies. A refugee could be the most patriotic American you've ever seen if you would just give them the chance to be. To be welcomed by us with open arms after fleeing war, chaos, and death? Is there a better way to win someone's heart and mind?
The protests are heartening. To see Americans come together as a unit to resist this obvious tyranny fills me with pride even as Trump's actions overwhelm me with shame. Huge, spontaneous protests to support people being unlawfully detained, unfairly treated, and un-Americanly singled out? This is the country that I love. Is it enough? I don't know. It's a start, though.
Let's keep the heat on, America.
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