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Back to the Forum Archives This single sentence highlights the essential philosophical difference between Osama Bin Laden with his al-Qaeda and Che Guevara, the man who wrote the sentence. The quotation is from his book, Guerrilla Warfare. It is considered to be the bible on revolution and Guerrilla tactics. Guevara wrote it nearly half a century ago. That was when Fidel Castro lead a popular revolution of the Cuban people against Batista. Batista was, of course, overthrown in 1959 even though he had the covert support of the United States. Although Castro led the revolution, there is little doubt that Guevara was the architect. He was the military strategist, the man behind the man as we say. Although there is a vast philosophical difference between Guevara and Bin Laden, there is also a remarkable similarity in some aspects of their methods. They are both involved in guerrilla activities. Guevara did it in the past and Bin laden is doing it now. Except for the immorality of Bin Laden's targeting methods, they could be following the same manual. Everything else is the same including the utilization of the peasantry to support their campaigns. Guevara goes into much detail about the organization and operation of a guerrilla army. He especially details the relationships with the peasantry and the methods of caring for them. He makes it painfully clear as to why it is impossible to defeat and destroy al-Qaeda the way we are attempting to do it. There is no way a guerrilla army can be defeated on its home ground by airpower and a handful of troops. Let's remember we could not even defeat Castro's revolution where we had an established dictatorship to help us. Doesn't anyone in this administration read? I do not understand why Bush or any president would not be conversant with this very important document. I highly recommend this book for all Americans. The government should purchase a billion copies of it. It should be distributed to every person in the federal government and every person in our armed forces. Cabinet members and chiefs of staff should get at least two copies each for they are bound to misplace one. It should be required reading with a special Simpleton Apprehension Test (SAT) to make sure it was understood. Recently, some people were chagrin to discover that Bin Laden is apparently still alive. Why, should we be chagrin or surprised? In fact, what does it matter that Bin Laden is alive? Al-Qaeda is very much alive. Al-Qaeda is embedded in the cultures of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. It has an integral relationship with the peasantry of those countries. In a very real sense the peasantry is the backbone of al-Qaeda. Bin Laden has seen to that. It would not surprise me at all to learn that Guevara's book is very popular with the al-Qaeda high command. His theories are surely being applied. Bush does not have a clue. Our army chiefs of staff do not have a clue. They do not understand this situation. All they have to do is read Guevara's book to understand why these people cannot be defeated with dink and dunk methods. If we really want to destroy these terrorists, we must go after them. We must treat this situation the same as we did our opponents in World War Two. The peasants are not on our side. They are on Bin Laden's
side. They will not help us. We are invaders. He is their hero
defender. The peasants will hid him, they will lie for him, and
they will supply him. They will even die for him. They will not
be on our side until we go in and take over their country. Only
then can we create the stability and provide them with food,
medicine, and tools to show that our way is better.
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