Insurgents vs Terrorists -- Is there a difference?

[GPaulus]

[QUOTE=marct;9077]Hi GP,

The fact that "All" human behavior ihas a motive and is motivated by one thing and one thing only "Self-interest" does not make all struggles the same.[/qote]

What a cold worldview! Why do you take the obviously unsupportable position that all human behaviour is based on self interest?



Jeremy Bentham would, I suspect, have been quite disturbed by this assertion. Outside of your blatant misunderstanding of the principles of Utilitarianism, you seem to think that self interest cannot also be "political". I wuld remind you of a rather popular saying from the 60's and 70's - "The personal is political".


Marc

Where I am going with my argument is that the way to beat an insurgency is to create a "Cause" that is greater than their "cause to die for." This group of individuals at least in Iraq can apostatize if we create the conditions to meet their primal needs. (by the way you will not be able to topple those at the highest level of the insurgency pyramid, they will have to be killed but below those most powerful, they will apostatise) You see, I firmly believe that all human behavior is motivated by selfinterest and certainly self interest could be selfish interests or even the opposite --even altruistic interest. Selfinterest is in the eye of the beholder, it could be political, ideological, religious, good or evil, or even selfishness like doing it for the money, power ... The terrorists are in general altruistic--willing to die or kill but doing it for the public good and in believing that their actions are really in the interest of others--but their actions are, like all human actions, motivated by and satisfy their selfinterest (as defined in their eyes). And by the way, you cannot change the terrorist's beliefs--in other words, you cannot create a cause to live for that is greater then their cause to die for--terrorists have to be killed, they cannot apostatize. This fact is why we hear so much about the religious Jihadist, religious extremists and why Terrorists are considered radicals--these conditions are very much at the actualization levels and they mirror belief systems that are so deeply held as to be extreme. Religion, democracy are selfactualizing concepts too. The Insurgents in Iraq are not acting at that level. When you are drinking from the same trough as your cow, you are not thinking about selfactualizing concepts. They will ebb and flow because their motives are selfish--it is all about them. These guys are locals, operating within KM of their own homes and there are many different groups. When I used the word utility, I did not mean Utilitarian. What I meant is in the purest definition of Utility--the quality or property of being useful--in other words, this insurgency in Iraq meets their primal need for food, money to acquire worth, power to control their neighborhood, self-security etc. and therefore, they only want the lawlessness to continue. The insurgency wants protractedness because they will ride the lawlessness as long as is possible. Their goal is not to win and that is why you never hear of an insurgency that wins--that is not their goal. You see if they were to win, then they would be responsible for caring for others, establishing a government, meeting needs of the local population, providing services and in providing Hope. Thank you for letting me discuss my radical ideas.