What kind of war do we face? A war without a target we are told by some, while others say the enemy is amorphous, without a structure or center of gravity. Simply put, this is a war against guerrillas, for that is another way to describe a terrorist. Not a guerilla in some strange land, but one right here among our schools, businesses and homes. So what can we do? What can every American do to fight this strange and frightening menace? There is an answer and it is simple, yet hard: Change the way we think we should respond to this war.
Every war film we have ever seen has given us the picture of how wars are fought. It is always “US” against “THEM,” and in the past we could always identify and exclude the “THEM.” For that was one essential of those wars, identify and exclude. In World War II it was the Japanese-Americans we identified and excluded, much to our discredit. But that was a war between nation-states and an entirely different breed of conflict from what we face today. What our enemies expect is that we respond in the same ways and so make it easier for them to move amongst us and against us. But if we change the most basic ways we think about our response, if we as a nation change our assumptions of how to respond to this threat, we alter the balance of power irreversibly in our favor.
Look at how the terrorist-guerrilla lives for a moment. They must function in secrecy, have support within the populace who will hide them, warn them, feed them and help them acquire the weapons they must have to strike. Mao Zedong once likened the guerrilla to a fish that swims in the sea of the people, an analogy I learned at the JFK Center for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg while learning to become a Special Forces soldier – a professional guerrilla. In the 1950s and ’60s, that was the primary job of Special Forces, guerrilla warfare, and we were taught by some of the best instructors in the world. Ingrained in us, just as Mao’s successful guerrillas were taught, was the idea that in order to function and survive, we had to have the support of the people we moved amongst. If they were not friendly or at least passive toward us, we stood little chance of survival, let alone being able to carry out any kind of effective warfare. That requirement has not changed for these terrorists of today either. To function they must be able to be hidden and supported by people living in this country.
So we have the most basic of choices to make. The choice is whether we will decide to exclude people living in our country, fellow citizens who have done nothing to harm us – just like our grandparents did with Japanese-Americans during World War II – or if we will include these same citizens and show them person to person that they are not to blame. When we include them and extend the open hand of friendship to them, we begin the process of shrinking the sea of people that the terrorist absolutely must have in order to operate. When we continue this process of inclusion, it shrinks the terrorist’s sea to the point of no longer being a survivable place – and then we have accomplished the most basic step towards winning our war against terrorism. Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide amongst people who will not stand idly by while their friends and countrymen are attacked. The worst nightmare of all terrorists and guerrillas.
Listening to and watching the news has shown us that the ringleader of these terrorists is one Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian who frequently operates out of Afghanistan. An Islamic fundamentalist, a Muslim from that strange and unknowable Middle East. He is said to have many supporters in this country that hide his terrorists – supporters from that strange and foreign place who are different from the rest of us, just as during World War II the Japanese-Americans seemed to be. Yet, during that terrible war, these same people who seemed so strange to the rest of us left their families in the internment camps to form one of the most heroic units ever to have fought for America. “Go for Broke” was Hollywood’s tribute to these brave men of the 442nd Combat Team. I can assure you that these newer arrivals to our country have within them the same heart and desire – as have all who have made the great leap to come to America to forge a better life for their families, just like my grandparents did and your forebears as well.
“OK,” you say, “that all sounds fine in theory, but what can I do?” It is simple, yet hard: Decide to visit a middle-eastern grocery or, better yet, a mosque just to tell at least one person that in your eyes they are not to blame and to ask if you might get to know them better. If you work with someone from the Middle East, introduce yourself and just talk to him or her as a person who deserves respect, just like you do. Treat these people as neighbors and they will smile just as you always smiled when you were treated to friendship when you were new to the neighborhood. Consider every smile you elicit as a step towards victory against the terrorists because, as a Special Forces guerrilla, I can assure you it is. Give these damned terrorists the nightmare they deserve and smile all the while you are doing it.
Tom Marzullo was a Special Forces soldier during Vietnam serving both on an A-Team and in MACVSOG. He completed his career in the U.S. Navy aboard submarines and was assigned to submarine special operations. He resides in Denver, Colorado with his bride of 21 years and their daughter.
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