What Can We Do?
By Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret.*
Posted
23th Oct 2001
A FEW YEARS AGO, terrorists destroyed two
U.S. embassies. President Clinton
retaliated against suspected facilities of Osama bin Laden.
In his
television address, the President told the American people that
we were the
targets of terrorism because we stood for democracy, freedom,
and human
rights in the world. On that occasion, I wrote: "Tell people the
truth, Mr.
President ... about terrorism, not about poor Monica. If your
lies about
terrorism go unchallenged, then the terror war you have unleashed
will
likely continue until it destroys us. "The threat of nuclear terrorism
is
closing in upon us. Chemical terrorism is at hand, and biological
terrorism
is a future danger. None of our thousands of nuclear weapons can
protect us
from these threats. These idols of plutonium, titanium, and steel
are
impotent. Our worship of them for over five decades has not brought
us
security, only greater danger. No 'Star Wars' system ... no matter
how
technically advanced, no matter how many trillions of dollars
was poured
into it ... can protect us from even a single terrorist bomb.
Not one
weapon in our vast arsenal can shield us from a nuclear weapon
delivered in
a sailboat or a Piper Cub or a suitcase or a Ryder rental truck.
Not a
penny of the 273 billion dollars a year we spend on so-called
defense can
actually defend us against a terrorist bomb. Nothing in our enormous
military establishment can actually give us one whit of security.
That is a
military fact.
"Mr. President, you did not tell the American people the truth
about why we
are the targets of terrorism. You said that we are the target
because we
stand for democracy, freedom, and human rights in the world. Baloney!
We
are the target of terrorists because we stand for dictatorship,
bondage,
and human exploitation in the world. We are the target of terrorists
because we are hated. And we are hated because our government
has done
hateful things. "In how many countries have we deposed popularly
elected
leaders and replaced them with puppet military dictators who were
willing
to sell out their own people to American multinational corporations?"
"We did it in Iran when we deposed Mossadegh because he wanted
to
nationalize the oil industry. We replaced him with the Shah, and
trained,
armed, and paid his hated Savak national guard, which enslaved
and
brutalized the people of Iran. All to protect the financial interests
of
our oil companies. Is it any wonder there are people in Iran who
hate us?
"We did it in Chile when we deposed Allende, democratically elected
by the
people to introduce socialism. We replaced him with the brutal
right-wing
military dictator, General Pinochet. Chile has still not recovered.
"We did it in Vietnam when we thwarted democratic elections in
the South
which would have united the country under Ho Chi Minh. We replaced
him with
a series of ineffectual puppet crooks who invited us to come in
and
slaughter their people - and we did. (I flew 101 combat missions
in that
war which you properly opposed.)
"We did it in Iraq, where we killed a quarter of a million civilians
in a
failed attempt to topple Saddam Hussein, and where we have killed
a million
since then with our sanctions. About half of these innocent victims
have
been children under the age of five.
"And, of course, how many times have we done it in Nicaragua and
all the
other banana republics of Latin America? Time after time we have
ousted
popular leaders who wanted the riches of the land to be shared
by the
people who worked it. We replaced them with murderous tyrants
who would
sell out and control their own people so that the wealth of the
land could
be taken out by Domino Sugar, the United Fruit Company, Folgers,
and
Chiquita Banana. "In country after country, our government has
thwarted
democracy, stifled freedom, and trampled human rights. That's
why we are
hated around the world. And that's why we are the target of terrorists.
"People in Canada enjoy better democracy, more freedom, and greater
human
rights than we do. So do the people of Norway and Sweden. Have
you heard of
Canadian embassies being bombed? Or Norwegian embassies? Or Swedish
embassies. No. "We are not hated because we practice democracy,
freedom,
and human rights. We are hated because our government denies these
things
to people in third world countries whose resources are coveted
by our
multinational corporations. And that hatred we have sown has come
back to
haunt us in the form of terrorism - and in the future, nuclear
terrorism.
"Once the truth about why the threat exists is understood, the
solution
becomes obvious. We must change our government's ways.
"Instead of sending our sons and daughters around the world to
kill Arabs
so the oil companies can sell the oil under their sand, we must
send them
to rebuild their infrastructure, supply clean water, and feed
starving
children. "Instead of continuing to kill thousands of Iraqi children
every
day with our sanctions, we must help them rebuild their electric
powerplants, their water treatment facilities, their hospitals
- all the
things we destroyed in our war against them and prevented them
from
rebuilding with our sanctions. "Instead of seeking to be king
of the hill,
we must become a responsible member of the family of nations.
Instead of
stationing hundreds of thousands of troops around the world to
protect the
financial interests of our multinational corporations, we must
bring them
home and expand the Peace Corps. "Instead of training terrorists
and death
squads in the techniques of torture and assassination, we must
close the
School of the Americas (no matter what name they use). Instead
of
supporting military dictatorships, we must support true democracy
- the
right of the people to choose their own leaders. Instead of supporting
insurrection, destabilization, assassination, and terror around
the world,
we must abolish the CIA and give the money to relief agencies.
"In short, we do good instead of evil. We become the good guys,
once again.
The threat of terrorism would vanish. That is the truth, Mr. President.
That is what the American people need to hear. We are good people.
We only
need to be told the truth and given the vision. You can do it,
Mr.
President. Stop the killing. Stop the justifying. Stop the retaliating.
Put
people first. Tell them the truth."
Needless to say, he didn't ... and neither has George W. Bush.
Well, the
seeds our policies have planted have borne their bitter fruit.
The World
Trade Center is gone. The Pentagon is damaged. And thousands of
Americans
have died. Almost every TV pundit is crying for massive military
retaliation against whoever might have done it (assumedly the
same Osama
bin Laden) and against whoever harbors or aids the terrorists
(most notably
the Taliban government of Afghanistan). Steve Dunleavy of the
New York Post
screams "Kill the bastards! Train assassins, hire mercenaries,
put a couple
of million bucks up for bounty hunters to get them dead or alive,
preferably dead. As for cities or countries that host these worms,
bomb
them into basketball courts." It's tempting to agree. I have no
sympathy
for the psychopaths that killed thousands of our people. There
is no
excuse for such acts. If I was recalled to active duty, I would
go in a
heartbeat. At the same time, all my military experience and knowledge
tells me that retaliation hasn't rid us of the problem in the
past, and
won't this time.
By far the world's best anti-terrorist apparatus is Israel's.
Measured in
military terms, it has been phenomenally successful. Yet Israel
still
suffers more attacks than all other nations combined. If retaliation
worked, Israelis would be the world's most secure people.
Only one thing has ever ended a terrorist campaign -- denying
the terrorist
organization the support of the larger community it represents.
And the
only way to do that is to listen to and alleviate the legitimate
grievances
of the people. If indeed Osama bin Laden was behind the four hijackings
and
subsequent carnage, that means addressing the concerns of the
Arabs and
Muslims in general and of the Palestinians in particular. It does
NOT mean
abandoning Israel. But it may very well mean withdrawing financial
and
military support until they abandon the settlements in occupied
territory
and return to 1967 borders. It may also mean allowing Arab countries
to
have leaders of their own choosing, not hand-picked, CIA-installed
dictators willing to cooperate with Western oil companies.
Chester Gillings has said it very well: "How do we fight back
against bin
Laden? The first thing we must ask ourselves is what is it we
hope to
achieve -- security or revenge? The two are mutually exclusive;
seek
revenge and we WILL reduce our security. If it is security we
seek, then we
must begin to answer the tough questions -- what are the grievances
of the
Palestinians and the Arab world against the United States, and
what is our
real culpability for those grievances? Where we find legitimate
culpability, we must be prepared to cure the grievance wherever
possible.
Where we cannot find culpability or a cure, we must communicate
honestly
our positions directly to the Arab people. In short, our best
course of
action is to remove ourselves as a combatant in the disputes of
the
region." To kill bin Laden now would be to make him an eternal
martyr.
Thousands would rise up to take his place. In another year, we
would face
another round of terrorism, probably much worse even than this
one. Yet
there is another way.
In the short term, we must protect ourselves from those who already
hate
us. This means increased security and better intelligence. I proposed
to
members of Congress in March that we should deny any funds for
"Star Wars"
until such time as the Executive Branch could show that they are
doing all
possible research on the detection and interception of weapons
of mass
destruction entering the country clandestinely (a far greater
threat than
ballistic missiles). There are lots of steps which can be taken
to
increase security without detracting from civil rights. But in
the long
term, we must change our policies to stop causing the fear and
hatred
which creates new terrorists. Becoming independent of foreign
oil through
conservation, energy efficiency, production of energy from renewable
sources, and a transition to non-polluting transportation will
allow us to
adopt a more rational policy toward the Middle East.
The vast majority of Arabs and Muslims are good, peaceful people.
But
enough of them, in their desperation and anger and fear, have
turned first
to Arafat and now to bin Laden to relieve their misery. Remove
the
desperation, give them some hope, and support for terrorism will
evaporate.
At that point bin Laden will be forced to abandon terrorism (as
has Arafat)
or be treated like a common criminal. Either way, he and his money
cease to
be a threat. We CAN have security...or we can have revenge. We
cannot have
both.
*Dr. Robert M. Bowman directed all the "Star Wars" programs under
presidents Ford and Carter and flew 101 combat missions in Vietnam.
His
Ph.D. is in Aeronautics and Nuclear Engineering from Caltech.
He is
President of the Institute for Space and Security Studies and
Presiding
Archbishop of the United Catholic Church. Dr. Bowman can be reached
at
RobertBowman@MiddleEast.Org
|
|