John Whitehead's Commentary
Banging the War Drums Is Not the Answer
There are such things as just wars--wars that are fought for all the right reasons, wars that are intended to protect the innocent and combat the spread of evil. When America took on the German Nazis and the other Axis powers during World War II, that was a just war. And in most instances, such wars are waged against identifiable enemies in specific nations and are authorized by an act of Congress.
But the current war on terrorism has rewritten the rules of engagement. We fight against an unseen enemy, with no country to call home and no specific leader at the helm. What is worse, there is no end in sight. And with George W. Bush now banging the war drums, ready to take on virtually anyone, anywhere, who might harbor terrorists, it looks as if he's planning to stick to his post-Sept. 11 promise of "a very long war." Certainly, if the American war machine plans to tackle al-Qaeda, which has a growing network of terrorists in virtually every country in the world--including the USA--it will prove to be a long war, indeed.
Fighting against a shadow enemy is never clear-cut. But when that enemy has proven to be silent, deadly and deliberate, it becomes that much more complicated and risky. The increasing unpopularity of the U.S. internationally doesn't help, either, especially in light of this "very long war."
Add to that the duplicity with which our government seems to carry out its foreign relations, and it is almost understandable why so many foreigners resent the U.S. Our foreign policy has been riddled with deception and relationships built on the quicksands of political expedience.
For example, consider that 20 years ago, we were arming with sophisticated weapons some of the very Afghan rebel troops we're fighting against today. These religious rebels constituted a convenient and useful part of our Cold War strategy against the Soviet Union. In fact, in 1979 Osama bin Laden, a guerrilla warrior for the mujahedeen, fought alongside the CIA to defend Afghanistan against the invading Soviets.
Yet even as we try to ferret out the shadowy conspirators engaged in terrorist plots against the U.S., we're not endearing ourselves to many of our foreign counterparts, especially those in the Middle East. For example, in Palestine, it was reported that thousands paraded in the streets celebrating the attacks on the U.S.
And suddenly what at first sounded like a master plan to root out evil and avenge our wrongs through extensive military campaigns abroad comes dangerously close to becoming just another example of what media-savvy manipulators like Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein paint as U.S. terrorist tactics in foreign lands.
Even in non-Islamic parts of the world, many reportedly celebrated when, according to the chilling phrase used by bin Laden, America was "struck by almighty Allah in its vital organs."
For instance, in Port Alegre, in southern Brazil, a large concert hall filled with young people erupted in anger when a visiting New York jazz musician insisted on beginning his performance with a rendering of "God Bless America." The kids responded with chants of "Osama, Osama." The concert was cancelled.
In Greece, the government suppressed the publication of opinion polls that showed a majority favored the terrorist attacks, and football crowds refused to observe a two-minute silence in memory of the victims.
If we are to make any real headway in the so-called "war against terrorism," our government needs to explain these foreign reactions and the inconsistencies that it apparently practices. We need to understand the despair, but also the lethal exaltation that drove the men who piloted those planes on Sept. 11 and others like them who will follow in their footsteps. This means moving beyond the simplistic rhetoric of our government and media that "they hate us, because they're jealous of our freedom and our wealth." There is much more to what is going on than this.
This is not the time to toss the word "war" about lightly, as our president tends to do in his attempts to whip up war fever. Before we go swaggering into all-out wars against shadow enemies lurking in foreign lands--before we commit precious American lives to spilling blood on distant shores--before we fire the next shot--the Bush Administration needs to study carefully the world terrain and make sure we're prepared to address all the important issues from a nonmilitary point of view.
Banging the war drums and continuing to act the bully can no longer suffice. Indeed, lightly disguised wars of revenge carried out in the heat of the political moment will only worsen conditions. As Tariq Ali writes in his excellent treatise on the Islamic mind, The Clash of Fundamentalism: Crusades, Jihad, and Modernity (Verso, 2002):
To fight tyranny and oppression by using tyrannical and oppressive means, to combat a single-minded and ruthless fanaticism by becoming equally fanatical and ruthless, will not further the cause of justice or bring about a meaningful democracy. It can only prolong the cycle of violence.
But the current war on terrorism has rewritten the rules of engagement. We fight against an unseen enemy, with no country to call home and no specific leader at the helm. What is worse, there is no end in sight. And with George W. Bush now banging the war drums, ready to take on virtually anyone, anywhere, who might harbor terrorists, it looks as if he's planning to stick to his post-Sept. 11 promise of "a very long war." Certainly, if the American war machine plans to tackle al-Qaeda, which has a growing network of terrorists in virtually every country in the world--including the USA--it will prove to be a long war, indeed.
Fighting against a shadow enemy is never clear-cut. But when that enemy has proven to be silent, deadly and deliberate, it becomes that much more complicated and risky. The increasing unpopularity of the U.S. internationally doesn't help, either, especially in light of this "very long war."
Add to that the duplicity with which our government seems to carry out its foreign relations, and it is almost understandable why so many foreigners resent the U.S. Our foreign policy has been riddled with deception and relationships built on the quicksands of political expedience.
For example, consider that 20 years ago, we were arming with sophisticated weapons some of the very Afghan rebel troops we're fighting against today. These religious rebels constituted a convenient and useful part of our Cold War strategy against the Soviet Union. In fact, in 1979 Osama bin Laden, a guerrilla warrior for the mujahedeen, fought alongside the CIA to defend Afghanistan against the invading Soviets.
Yet even as we try to ferret out the shadowy conspirators engaged in terrorist plots against the U.S., we're not endearing ourselves to many of our foreign counterparts, especially those in the Middle East. For example, in Palestine, it was reported that thousands paraded in the streets celebrating the attacks on the U.S.
And suddenly what at first sounded like a master plan to root out evil and avenge our wrongs through extensive military campaigns abroad comes dangerously close to becoming just another example of what media-savvy manipulators like Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein paint as U.S. terrorist tactics in foreign lands.
Even in non-Islamic parts of the world, many reportedly celebrated when, according to the chilling phrase used by bin Laden, America was "struck by almighty Allah in its vital organs."
For instance, in Port Alegre, in southern Brazil, a large concert hall filled with young people erupted in anger when a visiting New York jazz musician insisted on beginning his performance with a rendering of "God Bless America." The kids responded with chants of "Osama, Osama." The concert was cancelled.
In Greece, the government suppressed the publication of opinion polls that showed a majority favored the terrorist attacks, and football crowds refused to observe a two-minute silence in memory of the victims.
If we are to make any real headway in the so-called "war against terrorism," our government needs to explain these foreign reactions and the inconsistencies that it apparently practices. We need to understand the despair, but also the lethal exaltation that drove the men who piloted those planes on Sept. 11 and others like them who will follow in their footsteps. This means moving beyond the simplistic rhetoric of our government and media that "they hate us, because they're jealous of our freedom and our wealth." There is much more to what is going on than this.
This is not the time to toss the word "war" about lightly, as our president tends to do in his attempts to whip up war fever. Before we go swaggering into all-out wars against shadow enemies lurking in foreign lands--before we commit precious American lives to spilling blood on distant shores--before we fire the next shot--the Bush Administration needs to study carefully the world terrain and make sure we're prepared to address all the important issues from a nonmilitary point of view.
Banging the war drums and continuing to act the bully can no longer suffice. Indeed, lightly disguised wars of revenge carried out in the heat of the political moment will only worsen conditions. As Tariq Ali writes in his excellent treatise on the Islamic mind, The Clash of Fundamentalism: Crusades, Jihad, and Modernity (Verso, 2002):
To fight tyranny and oppression by using tyrannical and oppressive means, to combat a single-minded and ruthless fanaticism by becoming equally fanatical and ruthless, will not further the cause of justice or bring about a meaningful democracy. It can only prolong the cycle of violence.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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