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

Chapter 10
Al Qaeda <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r GSJ movements have understood that <strong>the</strong> judge <strong>and</strong> jury in this “poetic
justice” is ultimately <strong>the</strong> public. Unlike <strong>the</strong> ethical debate in <strong>the</strong> UK <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> US during
WWII, which was closely controlled by <strong>the</strong> establishment, <strong>the</strong> GSJ is doing everything it
can to open <strong>the</strong> debate through <strong>the</strong> Internet. Every opportunity is taken to highlight <strong>the</strong>
apparent brutality <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> double st<strong>and</strong>ards of western military action. Whilst western
air forces were congratulating <strong>the</strong>mselves on <strong>the</strong> creative use of air power in Afghanistan
during 2001, <strong>the</strong> Taliban were conducting an effective psychological operations campaign
to discredit <strong>the</strong> west. One of <strong>the</strong>ir spokesmen said this in an interview broadcast on
Al Jazeera at <strong>the</strong> time:
Eighty percent of <strong>the</strong> targets hit by <strong>the</strong> American planes <strong>and</strong> smart
bombs are civilian. You at al-Jazira broadcast horrible pictures that
express American cultural <strong>and</strong> moral values; you broadcast pictures
of <strong>the</strong> children killed in <strong>the</strong>ir mo<strong>the</strong>rs’ arms; you broadcast pictures
of <strong>the</strong> ruined mosques <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> charred Qur’ans inside <strong>the</strong>m; you
broadcast pictures of <strong>the</strong> villages destroyed along with all <strong>the</strong>ir
residents. These are <strong>the</strong> results of <strong>the</strong> American bombing so far. 426
Such rhetorical instruments have formed part of military propag<strong>and</strong>a throughout <strong>the</strong> ages,
but what makes <strong>the</strong>se particular examples different is <strong>the</strong>ir use in a global context. When
presented in <strong>the</strong> context of UK <strong>and</strong> US historical uses of air power, <strong>and</strong> when linked to
o<strong>the</strong>r contemporary conflicts such as Iraq <strong>and</strong> Sudan, <strong>the</strong>se become powerful sources of
grievance. These grievances add fuel to <strong>the</strong> continuing fierce resistance to NATO’s best
efforts to build a secure Afghanistan.
Conclusions
<strong>Air</strong> power <strong>and</strong> ethics are more closely linked than any o<strong>the</strong>r aspect of warfare. In <strong>the</strong>
tension between strategic advantage <strong>and</strong> ethical restraint, <strong>the</strong> early history of air power
suggests that strategic advantage has invariably stretched ethical restraint to include
wider definitions of combatants. The policy of <strong>Air</strong> Control in <strong>the</strong> Middle East during <strong>the</strong>
inter-war years was a significant influence on British air power <strong>and</strong> political strategists
<strong>and</strong> shaped <strong>the</strong>ir approach in WWII. There is evidence to suggest that it also influenced
<strong>the</strong> ideology of today’s GSJ movements. The inter-war years <strong>and</strong> WWII expose some of
<strong>the</strong> main strategic drivers for ethical elasticity as well as a number of justifying arguments.
These arguments are primarily offered by <strong>the</strong> establishment to <strong>the</strong> public <strong>and</strong> have been
underpinned by <strong>the</strong>ological support. RAF aerial bombing has been described as terrorism,
sometimes by Allies. The charge seems to have been secretly accepted by <strong>the</strong> British
Government at <strong>the</strong> time.
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 175