'They have no honor'

from Asia Times
By David Young
(two-part series)

There is a robust dialogue in the West concerning just causes for declaring war (such as pre-emption and self-defense,among others), but very little discussion about the methods of warfare that we (and other Westernized countries) have come to regard as either justifiable or unconscionable.

Americans, in particular, have developed a keen sense of what constitutes fair and unfair behavior in conflict and war, but much like members of any culture, Westerners seldom question their unequivocal abhorrence for certain behavior, such as terrorism and hostage-taking. It is important to recognize the difference between why we emotionally hate terrorism, and why we are politically adverse to it. The justifications are intertwined, just as they are in the rest of our moral-centric policies; but their differences should be addressed.

Ultimately, if we do not understand why we despise terrorism so much, then we cannot define terrorism. If we cannot define terrorism, we cannot define victory. If we cannot define victory, we cannot achieve it. And finally, if we cannot achieve victory in an ideological war, then what good are our cultural values, anyway? Admittedly, this last question is rather circular, but this is precisely the point, as the following hopes to indicate. Americans have great difficulty framing foreign policy (and most objectives, generally) outside the scope of values and morals. In the case of terrorism, it is with a rather bizarre twist of rhetoric that we have endorsed a war whose bounds are frighteningly limitless in every possible way.

The boilerplate

Why is terrorism regarded with such disdain in the West? Beyond a first glance, the answer to this question is starkly different from its broader counterpart, "Why is violence regarded with such disdain in the West?" Whatever connotations violence might carry in Western (and especially American) culture, widespread disdain is not one of them. America is a very violent culture, for countless reasons and through infinite outlets. But the drastic differences between America's regard for terrorism and for violence point to one cultural certainty: while violence might be the ultimate source of America's enjoyment in competitive sports and Hollywood adventure films, the glorification of terrorism (especially the suicidal variety) is a serious infraction against the collective body of American cultural values. Young boys do not team up and play "FBI and al-Qaeda" the way they might play "Cops and Robbers" or "Cowboys and Indians".

(Continued here.)

(Part Two is here.)