Before we go any further we really need to examine the differences between a Nation and a State because these differences can have a major impact on how Nation-States react to certain activities. First, understand that not all States are Nations and not all Nations are States.
· The USSR was a State but not a Nation. Its lack of “nationhood” contributed to its fracturing;
· Russia is a Nation-State;
· The United States of America is a Nation-State;
· Canada is a State but not a Nation (In that the French would like to secede);
· Iraq is a State but not a Nation.
The following presentation may help sort this out.
Matt Rosenberg http://geography.about.com/cs/politicalgeog/a/statenation.htm
“Definining an Independent Country
While the terms country, state, and nation are often used interchangeably, there is a difference.
A State (note the capital "S") is a self-governing political entity. The term State can be used interchangeably with country.
A nation, however, is a tightly-knit group of people which share a common culture. A nation-state is a nation which has the same borders as a State.
States and Independent Countries
Let's start with what defines a State or an independent country. An independent State:
Has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are OK).
Has people who live there on an ongoing basis.
Has economic activity and an organized economy. A country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money.
zSB(3,3)
Has the power of social engineering, such as education.
Has a transportation system for moving goods and people.
Has a government which provides public services and police power.
Has sovereignty. No other State should have power over the country's territory.
Has external recognition. A country has been "voted into the club" by other countries.
There are currently 192 independent countries or States around the world. Territories of countries or individual parts of a country are not countries in their own right.
Examples of entities that are not countries include: Hong Kong, Bermuda, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and most notably the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. (Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England are not countries.)
A "state" (with a lower-case "s") is usually a division of a federal State (such as the states of the United States of America).
Nations and Nation-States
Nations are culturally homogeneous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which share a common language, institutions, religion, and historical experience.
When a nation of people have a State or country of their own, it is called a nation-state. Places like France, Egypt, Germany, Japan, and New Zealand are excellent examples of nation-states. There are some States which have two nations, such as Canada and Belgium. Even with its multicultural society, the United States is also referred to as a nation-state because of the shared American "culture."
There are nations without States. For example, the Kurds are stateless people.”
I would like to suggest that in today’s world we should expand the definition of “nation” so that it does not necessarily share a common language.
The official language of Iraq is Arabic; Kurdish, Azeri, Farsi, and Turkmen are other languages spoken on a regular basis in Iraq.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jomhouri-e-Eslami-e-Irân, the population is 67,503,205. National or official language: Western Farsi. Literacy rate: 70% to 75% among those 6 years old and over (1995–1996 Iran Statistical Center). Also includes Eastern Farsi (1,000,000), Hulaulá (300), Tajiki, Turkish (2,570), people from Afghanistan (3,000,000), Kurds from Iraq (120,000), and Shi'a Arabs from Iraq.
Afghanistan
Pashtu (official language) 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
The thing is that it may be helpful to treat with organizations such as Al-Qaeda as a nation and not just a “terrorist club”.
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/08/19/terror.tape.main/index.html
The tape of a May 26, 1998, news conference is among 64 obtained in Afghanistan from a source, who said the tapes were found in an Afghan house where bin Laden had stayed. Experts say the collection of tapes sheds new light on al Qaeda's training, capabilities and mindset.
"By God's grace," bin Laden says on the tape, "we have formed with many other Islamic groups and organizations in the Islamic world a front called the International Islamic Front to do jihad against the crusaders and Jews." (“crusaders” refers to Western Europeans and Americans).
"And by God's grace," he says at another point in the tape, "the men ... are going to have a successful result in killing Americans and getting rid of them."
CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, who interviewed bin Laden a year earlier, believes the tape depicts a key moment for al Qaeda.
"They're going public," Bergen said. "They're saying, 'We're having this war against the United States.'" …
Within 11 weeks of the declaration, al Qaeda attacked U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in bombings that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
October 12, 2000, Aden Harbor, Yemen: A suicide squad rammed the warship the U.S.S. Cole with an explosives-laden boat killing 13 American sailors and injuring 33. The attack was likely by Osama bin Ladin's al-Qaida organization.
Bin Laden declared war on the United States in particular and on the non-Muslim West in general in May of 1998.
In our arrogance, we did not take him seriously.
A country’s embassy is the same as its own land. An attack on an embassy is no different than an invasion of that country. In May through August of 1998 bin Laden attacked several of our embassies.
In our arrogance, we did not take him seriously.
In October of 2000 bin-Laden attacked the USS Cole, an active warship. Another clear act of war.
In our arrogance, we did not take him seriously.
In September of 2001, bin Laden carried out acts of war on our own soil.
Finally we took him seriously (sort of).
How did we get to this point? We got here by not exerting our fundamental rights as a State.
From caves to countries the number one reason why people come together is security. When a government fails in its security function then it has failed its most basic responsibility. In this case the government, led by the Clinton Administration, simply failed to carry out this most basic of functions. To put it simply, when attacked, the country’s leadership failed to fight back, thus inviting more and escalating attacks.
From this, one might conclude that I am a Clinton hater, I am not, I just think that on this issue, he did a poor job. Nor am I a Bush lover. I think that while President Bush has done a better job than President Clinton, I also think that President Bush has not used the resources at his disposal very well.
When fighting a war, denying the enemy access to war making resources is crucial. Classic examples of this are the Russian retreat from Hitler’s advancing troops; Rommel’s tank battles with General Patton; and the relatively unimpeded flow of men and materiel from North to South Vietnam. The inability of the United States to stop that flow eventually helped determine the outcome of that war.
The basic principle is: When attacked, a country must immediately respond with militarily, economically, spiritually, and using any other resources that may be available, and that response must be overwhelming. By not applying this principle today, we have lost thousands of men and women, tens of thousands of Iraqis, and billions of dollars.
Today, one of our main enemies is Al-Qaida. Al-Qaida may be a nation but it is definitely not a State. It has no internal economic production capabilities. Generally it is dependent on outside sources for financial support. Essentially it lives and fights on the charity of others. This makes them extremely vulnerable to economic attacks. This is a weakness that the Bush Administration recognizes but has been unwilling to exploit. After 9/11 the administration said that they had success in preventing financial support from reaching Al-Qaida. Since the end of the first year we have not heard so much about the economic offensive.
We have troops on the ground and still we are not taking this seriously. We must make it clear to the world that we are at war. Any country that gives, facilitates, or even allows the transfer of money to our enemy is our enemy. Any country that gives shelter, of any kind, to our enemy, is our enemy. Such actions will be considered a declaration of war.
That would be a very good first step. Realistically that means that we would probably be at war with Iran and Syria very quickly and we must be prepared for that.
A good second step would be to let the Iraq government know that we are unwilling to put our
troops’ lives on the line so that they can play politics. If that Government wishes our assistance then it has to be our way or no way. For example, if they want our help suppressing the insurgency in Baghdad, then they are going to have to allow us to operate at night. We go wherever we need to whenever we need to, to do whatever we need to. If they want us to close their borders that’s what we will do, same deal. If they do not want our help, present the bill and say adios. We have places to be and things to do.
· The USSR was a State but not a Nation. Its lack of “nationhood” contributed to its fracturing;
· Russia is a Nation-State;
· The United States of America is a Nation-State;
· Canada is a State but not a Nation (In that the French would like to secede);
· Iraq is a State but not a Nation.
The following presentation may help sort this out.
Matt Rosenberg http://geography.about.com/cs/politicalgeog/a/statenation.htm
“Definining an Independent Country
While the terms country, state, and nation are often used interchangeably, there is a difference.
A State (note the capital "S") is a self-governing political entity. The term State can be used interchangeably with country.
A nation, however, is a tightly-knit group of people which share a common culture. A nation-state is a nation which has the same borders as a State.
States and Independent Countries
Let's start with what defines a State or an independent country. An independent State:
Has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are OK).
Has people who live there on an ongoing basis.
Has economic activity and an organized economy. A country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money.
zSB(3,3)
Has the power of social engineering, such as education.
Has a transportation system for moving goods and people.
Has a government which provides public services and police power.
Has sovereignty. No other State should have power over the country's territory.
Has external recognition. A country has been "voted into the club" by other countries.
There are currently 192 independent countries or States around the world. Territories of countries or individual parts of a country are not countries in their own right.
Examples of entities that are not countries include: Hong Kong, Bermuda, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and most notably the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. (Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England are not countries.)
A "state" (with a lower-case "s") is usually a division of a federal State (such as the states of the United States of America).
Nations and Nation-States
Nations are culturally homogeneous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which share a common language, institutions, religion, and historical experience.
When a nation of people have a State or country of their own, it is called a nation-state. Places like France, Egypt, Germany, Japan, and New Zealand are excellent examples of nation-states. There are some States which have two nations, such as Canada and Belgium. Even with its multicultural society, the United States is also referred to as a nation-state because of the shared American "culture."
There are nations without States. For example, the Kurds are stateless people.”
I would like to suggest that in today’s world we should expand the definition of “nation” so that it does not necessarily share a common language.
The official language of Iraq is Arabic; Kurdish, Azeri, Farsi, and Turkmen are other languages spoken on a regular basis in Iraq.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jomhouri-e-Eslami-e-Irân, the population is 67,503,205. National or official language: Western Farsi. Literacy rate: 70% to 75% among those 6 years old and over (1995–1996 Iran Statistical Center). Also includes Eastern Farsi (1,000,000), Hulaulá (300), Tajiki, Turkish (2,570), people from Afghanistan (3,000,000), Kurds from Iraq (120,000), and Shi'a Arabs from Iraq.
Afghanistan
Pashtu (official language) 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
The thing is that it may be helpful to treat with organizations such as Al-Qaeda as a nation and not just a “terrorist club”.
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/08/19/terror.tape.main/index.html
The tape of a May 26, 1998, news conference is among 64 obtained in Afghanistan from a source, who said the tapes were found in an Afghan house where bin Laden had stayed. Experts say the collection of tapes sheds new light on al Qaeda's training, capabilities and mindset.
"By God's grace," bin Laden says on the tape, "we have formed with many other Islamic groups and organizations in the Islamic world a front called the International Islamic Front to do jihad against the crusaders and Jews." (“crusaders” refers to Western Europeans and Americans).
"And by God's grace," he says at another point in the tape, "the men ... are going to have a successful result in killing Americans and getting rid of them."
CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, who interviewed bin Laden a year earlier, believes the tape depicts a key moment for al Qaeda.
"They're going public," Bergen said. "They're saying, 'We're having this war against the United States.'" …
Within 11 weeks of the declaration, al Qaeda attacked U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in bombings that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
October 12, 2000, Aden Harbor, Yemen: A suicide squad rammed the warship the U.S.S. Cole with an explosives-laden boat killing 13 American sailors and injuring 33. The attack was likely by Osama bin Ladin's al-Qaida organization.
Bin Laden declared war on the United States in particular and on the non-Muslim West in general in May of 1998.
In our arrogance, we did not take him seriously.
A country’s embassy is the same as its own land. An attack on an embassy is no different than an invasion of that country. In May through August of 1998 bin Laden attacked several of our embassies.
In our arrogance, we did not take him seriously.
In October of 2000 bin-Laden attacked the USS Cole, an active warship. Another clear act of war.
In our arrogance, we did not take him seriously.
In September of 2001, bin Laden carried out acts of war on our own soil.
Finally we took him seriously (sort of).
How did we get to this point? We got here by not exerting our fundamental rights as a State.
From caves to countries the number one reason why people come together is security. When a government fails in its security function then it has failed its most basic responsibility. In this case the government, led by the Clinton Administration, simply failed to carry out this most basic of functions. To put it simply, when attacked, the country’s leadership failed to fight back, thus inviting more and escalating attacks.
From this, one might conclude that I am a Clinton hater, I am not, I just think that on this issue, he did a poor job. Nor am I a Bush lover. I think that while President Bush has done a better job than President Clinton, I also think that President Bush has not used the resources at his disposal very well.
When fighting a war, denying the enemy access to war making resources is crucial. Classic examples of this are the Russian retreat from Hitler’s advancing troops; Rommel’s tank battles with General Patton; and the relatively unimpeded flow of men and materiel from North to South Vietnam. The inability of the United States to stop that flow eventually helped determine the outcome of that war.
The basic principle is: When attacked, a country must immediately respond with militarily, economically, spiritually, and using any other resources that may be available, and that response must be overwhelming. By not applying this principle today, we have lost thousands of men and women, tens of thousands of Iraqis, and billions of dollars.
Today, one of our main enemies is Al-Qaida. Al-Qaida may be a nation but it is definitely not a State. It has no internal economic production capabilities. Generally it is dependent on outside sources for financial support. Essentially it lives and fights on the charity of others. This makes them extremely vulnerable to economic attacks. This is a weakness that the Bush Administration recognizes but has been unwilling to exploit. After 9/11 the administration said that they had success in preventing financial support from reaching Al-Qaida. Since the end of the first year we have not heard so much about the economic offensive.
We have troops on the ground and still we are not taking this seriously. We must make it clear to the world that we are at war. Any country that gives, facilitates, or even allows the transfer of money to our enemy is our enemy. Any country that gives shelter, of any kind, to our enemy, is our enemy. Such actions will be considered a declaration of war.
That would be a very good first step. Realistically that means that we would probably be at war with Iran and Syria very quickly and we must be prepared for that.
A good second step would be to let the Iraq government know that we are unwilling to put our
troops’ lives on the line so that they can play politics. If that Government wishes our assistance then it has to be our way or no way. For example, if they want our help suppressing the insurgency in Baghdad, then they are going to have to allow us to operate at night. We go wherever we need to whenever we need to, to do whatever we need to. If they want us to close their borders that’s what we will do, same deal. If they do not want our help, present the bill and say adios. We have places to be and things to do. And finally to use an “old West analogy”, the nations of the world, especially N. Korea, Iran, and Syria must understand that if they “step into the street with us” by word or deed, we will take the situation to its conclusion which means they either draw or drop their gun belt. No one can be allowed to walk away from us and still be in a position to threaten us or do us harm.
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