Clearly the Islamist Struggle and terrorism is evident in Africa and in Afghanistan & Pakistan. This alone would demonstrate a trans-continental war waged by our enemies from Africa to Central Asia.
But the battle extends into Europe as well. Iran and Al-Qaeda are both active in Turkey, attempting to undermine the hidden example of secular democracy in a Muslim Nation. Both elements are using both legal and atrocious means to overthrow democracy there. Not only are Turks subjected to propaganda in every form, including at Mosques, but also the advent of political parties attempting to change the government from within the system.
Turkey's democratic and economic successes over nearly a century (post WWI) are the most dangerous message easily evident to the Persian People. Iran fears that seeing that success will induce its people to do exactly what happened in the aftermath of their recent elections.
And an islamist struggle is very active in France, London, Germany, and The Netherlands, where not only are assassinations not so uncommon, but protests occur calling for murder, mayhem and rape against democracy. The offspring of Van Gogh himself was assassinated by islamists, stabbed hundreds of times. Again, we see the "idealistic" version of islamism preached and the very rights we hold dear used to preach and protest against those rights. The 9/11 cells that supported the hi-jackers were based in Germany as a way point from the Afghan and Pakistan headquarters.
Bosnia, Kosovo, & Albania all saw efforts by islamists to establish a foothold in Europe but the populations there are less inclined to the radical, oppressive idealism of subjugation.
But the European front is being fought more as a Law Enforcement battle than a Military action. It's efficiency is seen in repeated train bombings in Madrid and calls by AQ to return ownership to the decendants of islamic oppressors, when their demands to retreat from Iraq were met.
The War On Terror stretches far into Southeast Asia, in places like Sri Lanka, where the government is still fighting the Tamil Tigers, even if only sporadically, having ceded great swaths of territory to LTTE control. And the LTTE is an affiliate with Al-Qaeda.
It stretches to Thailand, the Phillipines, India, and many more places where governments are fighting for survival and national integrity against various local insurgencies and AQ affiliated terrorist organizations, even without full support and in some cases without any support of the United States.
It stretches Northward to Russia and the former states of the Soviet Union, where Chechen "Rebels" fought ardently against Russian Troops for years. It is in Uzbekistan, China, Tajikistan, Azerbijan, and many other former parts of the Soviet Union to various degrees of success or failure, to various degrees of US assistance of those fighting against our enemies and various degrees of activity and appeasement to the enemy.
War on Terror News©2009, ARM, all rights reserved.
Tuesday: Part 1: Africa
This Post: Part 2: Europe & Asia
Thursday: Part 3: The Americas
Friday: Part 4: Nationalism & Culture
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