I do not condone targeting civilians.
This was just a thought that I had before falling asleep last night.
Ths is not a comparison in tactics, but rather in politics.
Like the United States, the British wanted a military solution to waht was a political problem.
The Colonies revolted due to being unjustly taxed, they were denied the right to manufacture any product or good which was manufactured in England and compelled to purchase goods from English suppliers thus preventing them to compete in any economy.
Now I do not equate the Colonies to the Middle Easten countries; rather I equate the everyday Middle Eastern citizen to the colonists.
I equate Great Britain to those who are raelly running things in The West and in the Middle East. Big buisness; of which it is no secret that the Rulers of the Middle Eastern countries are inectricably tied to their oil wells, whil the common person is forced to maintain an existance through poverty and social degradation in waht is essentially a fuedal lifestyle; having your jobs be dependant on the whims of whoever happens to own wahtever plant or factory in which you are working.
The difference between "them" and "us" is that our citizenry enjoy the fruits of the riches our our capitalist government and their rulers are the ones to enjoy the fruits of their dealings, while the citizenry is kept the way it always has been.
In that kind of society, I can understand the pull towards wanting to go and strike out against those who are keeping you down.
The big differnce here is that these countries hold total religious sway over thier citizens so that it is concidered blasphemy to ever think that their rulers are the evil ones... just as evil as the Great White Satan.
So in essence; all that these people are doing is reacting to their conditions. Their conditions of living in a society oppressed by buisness and capitalism; where their rulers see all the gain and they still remain backwards.
It just so happens that the medium of their "patriotism" is a religious one due to their culture and circumstances.
What choice do they have? keep in mind that their countries have their own military but they are not joining that. It is not the country that has the problem to them.. it is the commoner.. which is who the members of these extremist groups belong to are. It does not matter who they are striking out against. It is simply the fact that they are trying to do something to try to (however misguidedly) improve the situation of their families and brothers. It is not in their nature to place the blame on their religious leadership.. so they place it on us.... who are demonized by that same religious leadership for the sake of self preservation. Keep them hating the West so that they do not realized how tied in they are with us. Not really just the West.... just Buisness really....
For who can deny that the world economy is an Empire in it's own right? people in the rich countries are citzens of that empire, while the people in the poor countries are the 'barbarians'.
round and round we go.