Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Chapter 10
of Dresden two decades later. Harris did not see what he did in Iraq <strong>and</strong> in Germany as
murder or as terrorism in <strong>the</strong> context in which it is understood today. His actions were, for
him, necessary duties to ensure that <strong>the</strong> military might of <strong>the</strong> United Kingdom prevailed
over its adversaries. For that to occur <strong>the</strong>re had to be deterrence in <strong>the</strong> form of retribution
<strong>and</strong> collective punishment.
Concurrently, in <strong>the</strong> US, former General Billy Mitchell argued passionately for <strong>the</strong> use
of high explosive <strong>and</strong> incendiary bombs to destroy <strong>the</strong> enemy’s vital centres including
populated areas. He could see no legal or moral impediment to this strategy. Experimental
German ideas on bombing likewise resulted in <strong>the</strong> destruction of <strong>the</strong> Spanish town of
Guernica on 26 April 1937, which seemingly became a paradigm for <strong>the</strong> urban demolition
that air power would later cause throughout Europe <strong>and</strong> Asia.
However, <strong>the</strong> effect that air control had on <strong>the</strong> populations of <strong>the</strong> Middle Eastern countries
under its influence has not been examined in any detail. It should be. There is prima
facie evidence that suggests <strong>the</strong> experience of British colonial rule at <strong>the</strong> time spurned a
militant form of Islam which has had direct influence over <strong>the</strong> ideology of <strong>the</strong> current GSJ.
Hasan al Banah started <strong>the</strong> Muslim Bro<strong>the</strong>rhood in 1928 as a response to <strong>the</strong> political <strong>and</strong>
social plight of Muslims under what he saw as colonial oppression. At <strong>the</strong> same time, T E
Lawrence led an Arabian tribe, given to mugging pilgrims, <strong>and</strong> with its own religious sect
(Wahabism), to dominance over a country that was to bear its name: Saudi Arabia. Fifty
years later a young Wahabi Saudi would be taught at one <strong>the</strong> country’s universities by a
disciple of al Banah <strong>and</strong> would no doubt have read statements from al Banah such as this:
[The] days of hegemony <strong>and</strong> repression are over. Europe can no
longer rule <strong>the</strong> East with iron <strong>and</strong> fire. Those outdated practices do
not tally with <strong>the</strong> course of events, with <strong>the</strong> development of nations,
with <strong>the</strong> renaissance of Muslim people, or with <strong>the</strong> principles <strong>and</strong>
feelings <strong>the</strong> War has created.
That young man was Osama bin Laden.
World War II
The RAF started World War II with strikes primarily against military targets but
progressively concentrated on attacking civilians in city centres. Initially industrial <strong>and</strong>
transport infrastructure was attacked, but as <strong>the</strong> vulnerability of RAF bombers to German
defences dictated <strong>the</strong> use of night attacks, <strong>the</strong> already poor accuracy of bombing from
altitude decreased to <strong>the</strong> extent that it was inevitable that <strong>the</strong> majority of bombs would
miss <strong>the</strong>ir target. The secondary target, or what some have euphemistically called <strong>the</strong>
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 165