A Crusade of Mercy

In the days following the terrorist attacks in Paris, I am seeing many images and references invoking the Crusades.  There seems to be an attempt to equate the recent attack on Paris as an assault on Christianity in the West by radical Islam.  However, this simplistic view ignores other activity sponsored or encouraged by the so-called "Islamic State" where the victims are predominantly or exclusively Muslims, such as the bombing only a day before in Beirut.  It is a completely human and in many ways inevitable response to want to "fight back," and in particular, to mount a devastating, disproportionate military action that will "destroy the enemy."  It is also a response that will ultimately fail, both because it is too simplistic to address the root causes of this violence, and because it is precisely what the Islamic State expects, indeed desires.

Terrorism, by its nature, is intended to provoke response.  I do not suggest inaction, but before acting reflexively, it is preferable to consider what response was expected and intended.  To fail in this ensures that we will be acting in accord with the plans of the terrorists.  IS cannot be simply dismissed as madmen.  They act in a carefully planned manner that supports their world view.  Of course, that view is repugnant in its medieval brutality and bankrupt as a matter of any sensible measure of morality, but it is clearly codified and entirely consistent.  And it holds that the forces of "Rome" will engage in an apocalyptic battle with the true believers, nearly destroying them before they achieve final victory.  They require a disproportionate military response from the West as a matter of doctrine, and it will strengthen their theological argument.

And yet, we are falling into this trap.  Not only is there talk of wholesale invasion in some circles, but we are now also seeing the predictable xenophobic response to the plight of Syrian refugees who are fleeing from a civil war that has brought IS to fruition in the vacuum left by the unconscionable mismanagement of the occupation following the Iraq War and  the disastrous policy of De-Baathification.   That miasma is worthy of a separate post in and of itself, but regardless of this, we seem intent blaming the victims on a truly massive scale.

Pope Francis has designated the liturgical year beginning this Advent as a Year of Mercy, and we certainly need it.  If we are willing to spend billions of dollars on military action with dubious probability of success and high probability of injuring innocents, why are we not willing to also spend billions of dollars for food, shelter, and medical assistance for the millions displaced by IS?  The vast majority of these people are in the Middle East.  Truly, they do not want to leave and go to Europe or the United States.   They would have preferred to stay in their homes.  Would it not make sense to assist them where they are now?   Why are we not sending substantial aid to Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq to cope with the refugee crisis?  Honestly, and not to validate the xenophobes, if you want to reduce the flow of refugees to countries outside the region, you must remove the inexorable forces causing the exodus.

I call for a Crusade of Mercy - a massive effort to assist the people being harmed by IS.  Part of this effort requires protecting them, and there is obviously a military role, in conjunction with those already fighting against IS.  Degrading the ability of IS to do harm is entirely sensible, and frustrating their efforts at projecting terror beyond the areas they control must be a priority.  But even more, we must engage in an unprecedented harnessing of resources to address the suffering of those displaced.

If we ever hope to illustrate the intellectual and moral poverty of the Islamic State, we cannot play into their hands by fulfilling their prophecies about the hostility of the West.  We should protect ourselves and others, but we must understand that we can never completely destroy IS with military might.  Like an infection, we could eradicate much of it with force - military antibiotics, if you will, but ultimately the body must complete its own healing.  In this case, the body is the population of the Middle East itself, and the final defeat of IS only comes when they no longer command respect, and their rhetoric and Dark Age perspective is exposed to open ridicule by the people they hope to control.

So, help those militarily who resist the Islamic State, yes.  But remember that if you want a true and lasting ally willing to lay down his life, you can do nothing more effective than saving the life of his children.  Food, medical aid, shelter...mercy.  These are the most potent weapons in our arsenal, and we should deploy them without delay, and in quantities that result in a new and lasting shock and awe.

#crusadeofmercy