An Open Letter to the ‘Young Turks’
An Open Letter to the ‘Young Turks’ by LtGen Robert B. Neller, Marine Corps Gazette.
I want to take the opportunity to thank the Gazette for putting me in contact with Maj Peter J. Munson. As a result of his letter in the April issue and my response, we had a conversation on the phone. He also sent me his article, “Back to Our Roots,” published in the April 2011 online version of the Gazette, and we discussed that as well. As I mentioned in my commentary printed in the June Gazette in response to “The Attritionist Letters,” I believe it is better to talk and get things out in the open. Consequently, though I have not changed my view as articulated in the “Rebuttal,” I have considered the views of the good major, along with the captain (Capt Joseph Steinfels), who responded to me in the August Gazette, and many of their peers. I have personally listened to the views of these “Young Turks” in long and sometimes heated discussions over the past few years. The following paragraphs are my view of their views…
I just noted where LtGen Hejlik, Commander US Marine Forces Command, has opened up a blog, which provides another potential feedback loop on this issue: http://mcfc.dodlive.mil/.
semper fi,
Phil Ridderhof
Just as an interesting (at least to me) aside, the phrase “Young Turks” has been around so long that most of us don’t really know what the origin of that common American phrase is.
It comes from over 100 years ago, when “Arab Spring” was really first blooming, not in Tunisa in 2010, but in Turkey in 1908. The “Young Turks” captured the American imagination in their quest to challenge the Sultan in their quest for greater self-determination and greater democracy.
Events in Turkey echoed similar popular uprisings in neighboring Iran, where a young American School teacher, so swept up by the powerful excitement of a populace standing up to break the shackles of their current governmental situation in the quest for a constitutional democracy is to this day immortalized for martyring himeself while leading his students in a desperate assault.
These events driven by the energy of Muslim popualces seeking greater freedoms and more representative government were soon set on hold by a long century of Western intervention and manipulation that served to freeze autocratic governments in place in the name of “stability.” Stability is over-rated.
On this Veteran’s Day, let us remember the “Young Turks” for who they really were, and also acknoledge that today young Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans, Syrians, Bahrainis, Yemenese, Saudis, etc, etc are pressing forward once again for greater freedom and self determination.
There will be instability from their efforts, but it is such instability that allows nations to evolve and grow. There is always risk, as well as opportunity in such upheaval and chaos. Self-serving actors such as AQ and Hezbollah will attempt to hi-jack these movements. Much of this could be mitigated if the governments of the region would simply adopt small, but significant, changes to stand with their people rather than against them.
For the U.S. however, of all nations, should not act in ways to be perceived as the obstacle to such evolution. We cannot do this for these modern “young turks,” but nor should we be an obstacle to their efforts.