Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 23:34:59 EDT From: freemanaz@aol.com Subject: [azpeace] How To Reduce Terrorism: Bring American Troops Home To: azpeace@yahoogroups.com Reply-To: azpeace@yahoogroups.com
>
> http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews
>
> Pubdate: Tue, 11 Jun 2002
>
> HOW TO REDUCE TERRORISM: BRING AMERICAN TROOPS HOME
> Author: Thomas Gale Moore [of Hoover Institution]
>
> Both Vice President Dick Cheney and FBI Director Robert Mueller have
> asserted that another terrorist attck is "inevitable.'' They are right.
> There are too many targets and too many ways that an individual bent on
> suicide can wreak havoc. Like the war on drugs, the war on terrorism cannot
> be won.
>
> In his September address to Congress, President Bush declared: Our war on
> terror begins with Al-Qaida, but it does not end there. It will not end
> until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and
> defeated.
>
> Our desire for revenge is natural, but the president's end cannot be
>achieved. We are the strongest power the world has ever seen, not only in
> absolute terms but also relative to the rest of the globe. Our overwhelming
> success in the Persian Gulf War, with only 148 American deaths, our victory
> in Kosovo without any fatalities, and our conquering of Afghanistan with
> only a handful of casualties have given the impression that our military is
> invincible.
>
> But our military, no matter how invincible, cannot eliminate the suicide
> bomber, the terrorist who will die for his cause. As long as people hate us,
> we will always be vulnerable.
>
> While we cannot eliminate terrorism, we can reduce its frequency and
> violence. We should consider its roots. If we understand why people hate us
> and are willing to die to attack us, it does not mean we are justifying
> their actions. If our policies are leading to more terrorism, however, we
> should understand that.
>
> Osama bin Laden has told us why he is attacking us: because we have troops
> in the ``holy'' territory of Saudi Arabia. In his first tape after Sept. 11
> he promised: ``I swear to God that America will not live in peace before all
> the army of infidels depart the land of the prophet Muhammad.'' Not only
> does he feel this way, but so do many millions in the Islamic world.
>
> Since Sept. 11, we have deployed troops in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan
> and Georgia. Also in the Philippines and Colombia. We are talking about
> stationing our soldiers in Sudan and Yemen. In each of these countries, the
> local populace resents our presence. In Muslim countries, the opposition is
> particularly hostile since it believes Christianity is on another Crusade to
> invade Islam.
>
> Wherever we have bases, the local population resents those troops. In
> Okinawa, the locals strongly oppose the U.S. soldiers stationed on their
> island. Many of the South Korean population hate the American military in
> their midst.
>
> American troops abroad furnish both a motivation for terrorism and a target.
> If we brought our men and women home, would we be safer or less safe? The
> answer is clear: We would reduce the motivation to attack us. Americans
> would be seen more as we think we are, peaceful people who wish good things
> for the world.
>
> This goes against the grain; it could be seen as giving in to Osama bin
> Laden. But if our object is to reduce terrorism, it is the most practical
> and probably the only solution.
>
> A misguided machismo must not stand in the way of protecting our people and
> reducing violence in the word. No one will believe we are weak, especially
> after seeing our military in action over the last decade, simply because we
> stop trying to police the rest of the world.
>
> Bringing our troops home -- why do we have soldiers in Germany and
> Okinawa? - -- would increase our security, not decrease it. Even before
> Sept. 11, more than 60,000 U.S. troops were operating in more than 100
> countries. No wonder people consider America an imperial power.
>
> If we also reduced our unseemly favoritism for Israel by taking a more
> neutral stance, our credibility in the world and especially in the Arab
> countries would increase immensely. That too would help reduce the hatred
> that many feel toward the United States.
>
> President Bush explained to Congress why the terrorists hate America. He
> said: They hate what we see right here in this chamber -- a democratically
> elected government. They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our
> freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each
> other.
>
> The President is wrong. According to a Zogby International Poll released on
> April 11, a majority of people in the five Arab countries and three non-Arab
> Muslim states view our freedom and our democracy with favor.
>
> But overwhelmingly, they disapprove of our policies toward Arab nations and
> the Palestinians. Kuwait, for example, which we rescued from Iraq, liked our
> freedom and democracy by 58 percent to 39 percent, but only 6 percent viewed
> our policies favorably and a huge 88 percent disapproved of our policies in
> the Middle East.
>
> Other Muslim countries had almost identical views. And this poll was taken
> before Israel sent its military into the West Bank!
>
> Finally, attacking Iraq or any other Middle Eastern country will only
> increase the number of terrorists who will seek to get revenge. Let us
> reduce terrorism, not increase it. The policies currently being followed and
> those being talked about will only produce more 9/11s. Security cannot come
> from violence.
>
> We should follow Thomas Jefferson's advice from his first inaugural: "Peace,
> commerce, and honest friendship with all nations -- entangling alliances
> with none.''
>
> Thomas Gale Moore is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.
>
> Copyright: 2002 San Jose Mercury News
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