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Ralph Peters is a regular columnist with the New
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| PETERS |
Kill,
Don’t Capture
by Ralph
Peters [author,
novelist] 7/11/06 |
The British
military defines experience as the ability to recognize a mistake
the second time you make it. By that standard, we should be
very experienced in dealing with captured terrorists, since
we've made the same mistake again and again.
Violent Islamist
extremists must be killed on the battlefield. Only in the rarest
cases should they be taken prisoner. Few have serious intelligence
value. And, once captured, there's no way to dispose of them.
Killing terrorists
during a conflict isn't barbaric or immoral - or even illegal.
We've imposed rules upon ourselves that have no historical
or judicial precedent. We haven't been stymied by others, but
by ourselves.
Contributors
Ralph Peters - Contributor
Ralph
Peters is a retired Army officer and the author of 19 books,
as well as of hundreds of essays and articles, written both
under his own name and as Owen Parry. He is a frequent columnist
for the New York Post and other publications. [go to Peters Index] |
The oft-cited, seldom-read Geneva and Hague Conventions define
legal combatants as those who visibly identify themselves by
wearing uniforms or distinguishing insignia (the latter provision
covers honorable partisans - but no badges or armbands, no protection).
Those who wear civilian clothes to ambush soldiers or collect
intelligence are assassins and spies - beyond the pale of law.
Traditionally, those who masquerade as civilians in order to
kill legal combatants have been executed promptly, without trial.
Severity, not sloppy leftist pandering, kept warfare within some
decent bounds at least part of the time. But we have reached
a point at which the rules apply only to us, while our enemies
are permitted unrestricted freedom.
The present situation encourages our enemies to behave wantonly,
while crippling our attempts to deal with terror.
Consider today's norm: A terrorist in civilian clothes can explode
an IED, killing and maiming American troops or innocent civilians,
then demand humane treatment if captured - and the media will
step in as his champion. A disguised insurgent can shoot his
rockets, throw his grenades, empty his magazines, kill and wound
our troops, then, out of ammo, raise his hands and demand three
hots and a cot while he invents tales of abuse.
Conferring unprecedented legal status upon these murderous transnational
outlaws is unnecessary, unwise and ultimately suicidal. It exalts
monsters. And it provides the anti-American pack with living
vermin to anoint as victims, if not heroes.
Isn't it time we gave
our critics what they're asking for? Let's solve the "unjust" imprisonment
problem, once and for all. No more Guantanamos! Every terrorist
mission should be a
suicide mission. With our help.
We need to clarify the rules of conflict. But integrity and
courage have fled Washington. Nobody will state bluntly that
we're in a fight for our lives, that war is hell, and that we
must do what it takes to win.
Our enemies will remind us of what's necessary, though. When
we've been punished horribly enough, we'll come to our senses
and do what must be done.
This isn't an argument for a murderous rampage, but its opposite.
We must kill our enemies with discrimination. But we do need
to kill them. A corpse is a corpse: The media's rage dissipates
with the stench. But an imprisoned terrorist is a strategic liability.
Nor should we ever mistreat captured soldiers or insurgents
who adhere to standing conventions. On the contrary, we should
enforce policies that encourage our enemies to identify themselves
according to the laws of war. Ambiguity works to their advantage,
never to ours.
Our policy toward terrorists and insurgents in civilian clothing
should be straightforward and public: Surrender before firing
a shot or taking hostile action toward our troops, and we'll
regard you as a legal prisoner. But once you've pulled a trigger,
thrown a grenade or detonated a bomb, you will be killed. On
the battlefield and on the spot.
Isn't that common sense? It also happens to conform to the traditional
conduct of war between civilized nations. Ignorant of history,
we've talked ourselves into folly.
And by the way: How have the terrorists treated the uniformed
American soldiers they've captured? According to the Geneva Convention?
Sadly, even our military
has been infected by political correctness. Some of my former
peers will wring their hands and babble about "winning
hearts and minds." But we'll never win the hearts and minds
of terrorists. And if we hope to win the minds, if not the hearts,
of foreign populations, we must be willing to kill the violent,
lawless fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population
determined to terrorize the rest.
Ravaged societies crave and need strict order. Soft policies
may appear to work in the short term, but they fail overwhelmingly
in the longer term. Wherever we've tried sweetness and light
in Iraq, it has only worked as long as our troops were present
- after which the terrorists returned and slaughtered the beneficiaries
of our good intentions. If you wish to defend the many, you must
be willing to kill the few.
For now, we're stuck
with a situation in which the hardcore terrorists in Guantanamo
are "innocent victims" even
to our fair-weather allies. In Iraq, our troops capture bomb-makers
only to learn they've been dumped back on the block.
It is not humane to spare fanatical murderers. It is not humane
to play into our enemy's hands. And it is not humane to endanger
our troops out of political correctness.
Instead of worrying over trumped-up atrocities in Iraq (the
media give credence to any claim made by terrorists), we should
stop apologizing and take a stand. That means firm rules for
the battlefield, not Gumby-speak intended to please critics who'll
never be satisfied by anything America does.
The ultimate act of humanity in the War on Terror is to win.
To do so, we must kill our enemies wherever we encounter them.
He who commits an act of terror forfeits every right he once
possessed. CRO
Ralph Peters'
latest book is New
Glory: Expanding America's Global Supremacy. His next
book, Never Quit the Fight, is due
out July 10.
This
piece first appeared in the New York Post
copyright 2006 - NY Post
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