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September 19, 2001
What else is there to
What else is there to write about except the WTC bombings? My opinions...
There are, roughly, two schools of mainstream thought on the motivations of the attackers.
- Excessive response to legimitate grievances. The victims of the bombings did not deserve to die, and nothing justifies the terrorists' actions. Nonetheless, America's foreign policy has made many enemies - its inhumane sanctions on Iraq, its backing of corrupt regimes in the Gulf states, its support for Israel, its role as a weapons exporter, and so on.
- America is entirely innocent. The other viewpoint says that a) America's actions are innocent; and b) the attack was based on mindless hatred of American culture and the modern age - a backlash against Disney, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Hollywood. Even if American foreign policy was saintly, this goes, the killers would have struck anyway.
What do I believe? There is a measure of truth in both sayings. The culture-hatred theory has merit as to the scale and scope of the attack. There are millions around the world who have been victimized by American policies, but they have generally fought back with protests or demonstrations rather than bombings. Even those who have turned to violence have generally struck at military targets, and those located in or near their home countries. To cross the line into attacking defenceless civilians is an indication that the dislike is not of what America does so much as what America is.
However --
Much was made over Palestinians dancing in the streets the day of the bombing (although that only happened in one village, and got publicized way out of proportion). Do these Palestinians despise what America is? I think not. If anything, they are bitter that Israel, backed by America, has kept them mired in poverty and despair and unable to even dream of the luxurious American lifestyle. They would on their own never have launched a bombing, but they sympathize, even applaud it.
So what the US response to the bombing be? It has to proceed on two fronts. One consists of a reform of US foreign policies:
- Withdraw military aid to Israel, Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.
- Make economic aid, everywhere, conditional upon respect for human rights, an end to corruption, and political freedoms.
- Support the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and make the border areas a demilitarized zone.
- Lift non-military sanctions against Iraq.
- Normalize relations with Iran and Syria (the latter conditional upon human rights guarantees)
As to the terrorists, the worst thing that could happen would be a brutal bombing or other military campaign against the ordinary people of Afghanistan. But the Taliban should be pushed, and pushed hard. First send in a limited tactical strike, with just enough air power to cover the ground troops, into the Kandahar region to close down the training camps and seize as many terrorists as can be found. Jump in, seize, then evacuate. The troops ideally should not be in Afghan territory more than a few months. Then push the Taliban to end their gender apartheid, release political prisoners, scrap the identity-card program, and provide political freedoms.
Eliminating terrorism means making a clear distinction between the Islamic faith and the extremist variants of it that have sprouted up. The support of Muslim clerics will be essential to this. Any armed assault against terrorists should be done in concert with Muslim states.
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Posted by Tyrone at September 19, 2001 12:11 PM