Ewoks and the Taliban

I know the first time I saw Return of the Jedi, I wondered how could those Ewoks beat the superior Imperial forces. The Imperial forces have guns and tanks (AT-ST). This is a similar question that the military leaders and general public of the UN forces are facing. How can the Taliban and other groups continue to remain a powerful military force in Afghanistan. The answer to this question can be seen in the battle between the Ewoks and the Imperial forces.

Well the first thing to look at is the Empire. The Empire is a group of planets put together under the control of a central force. This central power believes that they can bring order and peace to the Galaxy. Right away we see the similarities. The UN based force in Afghanistan is made of a group of countries, control by a central force with a belief that they can bring order and peace to the world. Clearly the audience sees the Empire as being the "bad" or "evil" force in this battle, but with the similarities between the two it should not be a stretch for one to believe that not everyone sees the UN as being "good" or "positive". After all, there must be some people in the Empire who believe it is a force for good, or it could not operate as it does. Thus, the "good" or "evil" of the political power is different via different eyes.

The Ewoks and the Taliban are similar in their social organization as well. The Ewoks do not have large standing settlements, which could be attacked. Ewoks live in trees and the Taliban live as small groups in caves. These smaller decentralized groups are much harder for the enemy to find. The similarities between the Ewoks and the Taliban become the strongest when you look at their military activities.

Much like their real life counter-parts the Ewoks are no match for their enemies in military power. They rely on rocks, sticks and bow and arrows. The Taliban uses old rifles and other military weapons which might as well be sticks and stones verses things like B2 bombers and tanks. Tanks and air craft are also part of the many armaments of the Empire. The AT-ST are the Empires Tanks and they use the "Tie" line of air craft.

The Ewoks and the Taliban deal with this foe that has greater military power in a very similar way. First they both use the terrain to their advantage. Like the Taliban the Ewoks know every corner of their Forrest home world, after all The Ewoks are able to show the Rebel force the back entrance to the shield generator. This becomes their best weapon. The Ewoks use their terrain to defeat their foes. We see them set up the logs on the hill which they roll down to cause the AT-ST to fall. They also set up rope and other traps to kill Storm Troopers. Although not show in the movie, they must have led the forces of the Empire to these traps. The Taliban do a very similar thing. They set up "road side bombs" and use the mountainous terrain to their advantage. In doing this they are able to keep up with the UN force.

Second the Ewoks take the weapons of their enemies to help defeat them. We see Chewy and the two Ewoks swing in a Tarzan type manner and take over an AT-ST. Ewoks are also seen taking speeder bikes and some Ewoks end up getting blaster rifles. This once again is like the Taliban. They get weapons from foreign powers like the USSR from the war in the 80's and from the UN force itself. They use these weapons against the very powers they took them from.

Finally the Ewoks and the Taliban use similar military strategy and tactics. The Ewoks have no problem running in the face of the enemy if it means they can move to a stronger military spot. They also use hit and run tactics and isolate small parties of Storm Troopers so that they can be beat by superior numbers. These are tactics and strategies that the UN base force in Afghanistan faces.

The similarities between the Ewoks and The Taliban are eerily similar in both political and military ways. The question that remains is why. Why is this comparison important?

The great thing about popular fiction is that it lets us look at our own times, but outside of our environment. All the bias, fear, and political filters are all but gone in a fiction setting. In this comparison we identify with the Ewoks (Taliban) and this is why the comparison is so important. For only through an understanding of “the other" group can you hope to find peace with them. Whether that be peace by better understanding their military abilities or by better understanding why the conflict with them began in the first place. Popular fiction can help shed light on problems that we all face as a society and in turn help find solutions to them.


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