| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Defang terrorists by ridiculing them as buffoons |
| 2006-05-24 |
| It's what we do every day here at the 'Burg Osama bin Laden says he doesn't fear dying. He says he fears being humiliated. So let's give it to him. Bin Laden and others have thrived on the almost obsessive American focus on them as personal rivals. We give them the coveted ``Enemy of the Great Satan'' brand whenever our national leaders single them out by name. What would happen if we ridiculed the terrorists instead? Would young people still flock to become ``fighters'' and suicide bombers? Would they still leave on their doomed missions with tearful support from their mothers, fathers, grandparents and the pretty girls at home, blessed by a cleric who justifies murder as a noble sacrifice in Allah's name? Terrorism is psychological warfare: to accomplish much with little by manipulating people's perceptions, emotions and actions. That's why terrorists like soft targets -- innocent civilians in a skyscraper or mosque -- that have little if any military value. The killings serve to terrorize civilized society, Muslim and otherwise. Ridicule strips the terrorist of his power. If we stop being afraid, we turn the icons of fear into objects of contempt. The U.S. military may be developing its war-fighting skills to do just that. Recently it shattered the seemingly invincible persona of Al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose beheadings and bombings have terrorized Iraq and the world, by pairing his latest video release with captured raw outtakes. The outtakes showed Zarqawi not as a fearsome fighter but as a confused, bumbling fat boy in American sneakers and a black ninja costume who couldn't figure out how to operate a simple machine gun. (And even if it wasn't simple, there was no way to know that from the outtakes.) For the first time ever, the world saw Zarqawi's weak side: a pudgy, vulnerable, even contemptible creature who can't fight like a real warrior. To most Americans, ridiculing terrorists might seem trivial, even sophomoric, as a weapon of war. But dictators and terrorists, being unable to function in the free market of ideas, need propagandists to control (not merely spin) their public images. They require obedience or acquiescence -- a fear factor that cannot long coexist with put-downs and snickering. (That's why, six months after taking power in 1959, Fidel Castro had signs placed in official buildings that read ``Counterrevolutionary jokes forbidden here.'' One of the first publications he shutdown was Zig Zag, a humor magazine.) Pride, honor and shame are profound in much of Arab Muslim culture. The Zarqawi video was devastating. That's why Iraqi television and other moderate Arab media gave it plenty of play. The ancients of the Middle East understood the mortal power of ridicule. In the Talmud, the basis of Jewish law, the Hebrews proclaimed, ``All mockery (leitzanut) is prohibited except for mockery of idol worship.'' Muhammad, the founder of Islam, weaponized ridicule. From the third to the fifth years of his annunciation as a prophet, Muhammad deployed warrior poets ahead of his invading armies to soften the targets through mockery and derision. Back in simpler times, Americans reflexively ridiculed their enemies. In a 1940 episode of ``The Three Stooges,'' Moe did a ridiculous impression of Hitler while Larry heiled as propaganda minister, and Curly dressed as Goering with his belly and buttocks festooned with medals. When the United States entered World War II in 1941, the Army turned film studios into wartime propaganda mills. Humor about sacrifices at home and ridicule of the enemy were staples in Disney and Warner Bros. productions that starred Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny. (In fact, ``Donald Duck in Nutziland'' won an Academy Award in 1942.) To home audiences, the parody brought comfort and reassurance that, mighty as the enemy was, we could still defeat it. In a January 2006 recorded message, bin Laden signed off by saying: ``I swear not to die but a free man even if I taste the bitterness of death. I fear to be humiliated or betrayed.'' If he's not afraid to die, let's pour on the humiliation. As long as the terrorists can make themselves look like fearsome winners -- and as long as we inadvertently help them -- they will always recruit followers. But nobody likes to follow a loser. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #16 #6 We need to do things like "Blazing Camels" with Osama in the bathtub with the rubber duckie. I'll let youse comedy geniuses fill in the rest ;^) I get a mental image of a foam of accumulated filth trying to crawl out of the tub over the sides just to get away from OBL... |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2006-05-24 18:43 |
| #15 Here's a good start: Video Link (Safe For Work) |
| Posted by: Chinter Flarong9283 2006-05-24 17:51 |
| #14 The Middle East is said to have a shame culture. Good thing, too. They have PLENTY to be ashamed of. Here in the 'Burg, we |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-05-24 14:51 |
| #13 DITTO to that Gromgoru. Can never have enough lead in their diet. Ridicule them AFTER they lie rotting and stinking. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-24 14:22 |
| #12 Me, I prefer ameliorating their lead deficiency. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-05-24 12:58 |
| #11 a5089, et al: The word coming out from Hollywood is that a significant number of the young generation of writers, producers and actors view themselves (and vote!!!) Conservative Republican. Mostly they are biding their time quietly as they do the bidding of the Hollywood Establishment, waiting their turn to replace those currently in power, although they've managed to quietly make themselves known to one another. Ten to fifteen years out, the messages coming out of the film industry should be very different than what the world sees and hears now. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-05-24 12:07 |
| #10 To most Americans, ridiculing terrorists might seem trivial, even sophomoric, as a weapon of war. Historically, humiliation as an endgame for motivation is counterproductive. That has been especially true in the Muslim World. Ridicule fuels self-loathing. The leaders that manipulate collective guilt understand this to be the foundation for recruitment to their violent ideologies. And when the leaders themselves are the targets, it only strengthens their resolve to change that perception. Exposing truths that result in humiliation, as a by-product, is a much more effective deterrent. I doubt that portraying Zarqawi as a bumbler had any real net effect on his persona one-way or the other. However, the news of the TalibanÂ’s desire to execute a convert from Islam did open the eyes of many that otherwise have taken a more neutral stance. And it seems to me, the people that intentionally target school children repulse most humans. Motivation for change rarely occurs when people are told they are wrong. Persuasion is most effective when people believe they have reached conclusions on their own. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-05-24 11:37 |
| #9 Brownshirts with clown shoes. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-05-24 11:25 |
| #8 get Mel Brooks |
| Posted by: bk 2006-05-24 11:20 |
| #7 I like the idea, but I think a5089 has a good point here about the media. And we should remember that this "humiliation" tactic was in place when we first went into Iraq, which is why some soldiers got traction to do such things as the "pyramid of nude prisoners" idea. The old axiom of using 'what your enemy values most' against him is true, but once the media gets a hold of how you did it, be prepared for it to backfire in unanticipated ways. It comes down to: are we prepared to do what it takes to win, including things the international community will outraged about, and have we thought through ways to counter that outrage deftly? |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-05-24 11:09 |
| #6 We need to do things like "Blazing Camels" with Osama in the bathtub with the rubber duckie. I'll let youse comedy geniuses fill in the rest ;^) |
| Posted by: AlanC 2006-05-24 10:59 |
| #5 Heck, I've been telling my peers this about the arabs for years. Reduce the terrorists to the 'nerds' that they really are and people will get a new take on them. That's their biggest fear - being thought of as nerds, clowns, or impotent blow hards. It should be easy enough to do since in reality that's what these misguided jerk-off's are. If we were to run "SNL" style skits on t.v. about Zarki fumbling w/that weapon ala what Chevy Chase used to do the Gerald Ford routine people would laugh their ass off. Cater that to middle eastern media via Al Jiz or whatever and they would get it; that would be very effective propaganda in my book. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-05-24 10:34 |
| #4 This should be done professionally. Islamists all over wanted an "insult to Islam" from the west so much that they fabricated one, the "cartoon rage". What in the west we would consider ridicule is too blunt for the target audience--potential jihadi recruits. What is needed is to set up a chain of axioms among them, a series of "facts" that nobody even notices, but when put together are just enough to undermine their whole philosophy. This is not emotionally gratifying on our side, but it works. A good comparison for subtlety is why Rush Limbaugh is so popular. His secret is to tell jokes and anecdotes with the second or third best punchline. Most of his audience can figure out the best punchline, and it really makes them feel good. It takes a great deal of intestinal steel to do this, as you want to tell the joke yourself. But in the long run, it really pays off. You will become very popular by not trying to tell the joke the "best" way. But it is very, very hard to do. In the final analysis, we want to set up a situation so that in much of the world, in a near spontaneous manner, large numbers of jihadist supporters just say "Blecch!", and quit forever, in disgust. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-05-24 09:50 |
| #3 That worked well in Denmark. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-24 09:27 |
| #2 Excellent point. To ridicule them successfully, we'd need a compliant mass media system, like in WWII as noted in the article... but it doesn't suit their agenda anymore. In fact, they're on the other side, not only on the WOT, but in the whole culture war thing. Perhaps the "red scare" sci fi movies and the likes were made possible by the earlier purge of Hollywood's commies (didn't last too long, though), so the logical step would be to change the power structure there again, one way or an another, don't know. Could it even be done? |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-05-24 09:22 |
| #1 To access this article requires signing in. From Bug Me Not: Username mercurial@nospam.com Password mercury |
| Posted by: ryuge 2006-05-24 08:47 |