The tragic terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have shown
the American people and government that continued failure to
have an effective strategy against international terrorism will
be followed by ever more deadly attacks. Because this
indirect warfare has mostly occurred abroad for the last 30
years, virtually all in other Free World countries, few here
have known that since 1970 more than 100,000 persons
have been killed and many more seriously injured in such
attacks.
A comprehensive strategy to defeat terrorism must begin
with an understanding of its origins and structure. Most of the
currently functioning terrorist organizations derived from the
publicly announced decision of the Soviet Union in 1961 that,
since it viewed nuclear war with the United States as too
dangerous, Moscow would establish and arm "liberation
organizations" around the world.
There was a focus on groups that would use violence to
attack NATO and other allies of the United States. After
three decades of attacks, many of these armed movements
withered after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
However a number of these continue: in Europe (the IRA
against Britain ,the ETA against Spain); in Latin America
(FARC and ELN against Colombia); and, in the Middle East
(the PLO and a number of other armed Palestinian groups
opposing Israel).
While the bin Laden organization was originally
anti-Soviet, once it became hostile to the U.S., the current
structure of its operations continues much of the pattern from
the Soviet years. There are three levels to the current
challenge:
(1) The terrorist groups and networks.
(2) The terrorist partner regimes in Afghanistan, Iraq,
Libya, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Cuba.
(3) And major powers which year after year have been
providing weapons of mass destruction components,
expertise and other types of aid to those terrorist partner
regimes. According to public testimony in recent years by the
CIA and DIA directors, China and Russia have been the
most active countries in providing these terrorist partner
regimes with components and expertise for missiles, chemical,
biological and nuclear weapons.
To be effective and prudent, each of these three elements
has to be dealt with using a different combination of means
together with allied or friendly states and local groups. There
will be synergistic effects; progress against any one of the
three components of the nexus will weaken the other two.
The terrorist organizations need to be rendered incapable
of taking offensive actions. This will require a range of means
to disrupt their communications, travel and financing and to
prevent them from having fixed headquarters.
Special commando groups (often from friendly regional
countries) can be helped to capture terrorist leaders and
members. The requirement is for a long-term, unremitting
effort combining the best intelligence information with the
resources of friendly regimes and relevant local groups
abroad. In the case of bin Laden, for example, the Northern
Alliance, an armed resistance group opposed to both bin
Laden and the Taliban regime of Afghanistan, could be
provided with additional means to help them mount the
search for him and his key associates.
The Bush administration has indicted that it understands
the need to deal with the terrorist partner regimes. The issue
is how to do this sensibly and in accord with our values that
counsel avoiding harm to innocent civilians in those countries.
We have to begin by understanding that all the terrorist
partner regimes are brutal dictatorships which have remained
in power through the repression of their own people.
Therefore, our strategy should focus on identifying groups
and leaders within those countries or in exile who could be
aided through political and other means, openly or discreetly,
to remove the dictatorships and establish moderate,
constitutional governments. These would then expel or arrest
terrorists and have cooperative international relations. A good
recent example was the removal of the Milosevic dictatorship
after 55 years of communist rule in the former Yugoslavia.
In Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance in combination with
the exiled king (living in Italy) and other moderate members
of the coalition of resistance movements that formed the
Afghan Independent Government, already recognized by a
number of states, could be the means to bring the brutal rule
of the Taliban extremists to an end.
In Iraq, which has been supporting much of the terrorism
aimed at America and Israel there is an opposition coalition,
the Iraq National Council (INC), with a program and
leadership committed to a moderate constitutional
government, which could replace the Saddam Hussein
dictatorship.
Under the leadership of the skilled Ahmed Chelabi, the
INC has reached agreement among the Sunnis, Shi'ites and
Kurds on a future constitutional government for Iraq. And
with firm international support it could remove Saddam
Hussein.
Concerning the major power supporters of the terrorist
partner states, Russia shares the concern of the U.S. about
the Taliban/Osama bin Laden nexus since it also arms the
Chechnya separatists Moscow has been fighting since 1994.
It might be possible to persuade Russia to end its arming of
the other terrorist partner states.
But China has made and broken promises to stop selling
missiles and mass destruction weapons to Iraq, Iran and
other terrorist partner states since 1988.
The U.S. provides China with enormous economic
benefits that the Beijing regime needs, including a massive
trade surplus ($80 billion last year alone, $450 billion since
1990). It is time to make clear to the regime in China that the
U.S. will severely restrict the economic benefits China
receives unless it ends its sale of weapons of mass destruction
components to the terrorist partner states.
Another element of an effective strategy involves the
United States becoming more active and creative in
presenting its case to the world and especially to the Muslim
peoples. This is a struggle against violent extremists, not with
Islam or with Islamic countries. The American government
and people respect Islam along with all religions, and Islam is
practiced freely in America.
The United States must tell the truth about the brutality of
the terrorists and the terrorist partner dictatorships. The U.S.
should answer factually the lies about America that are
endlessly repeated by the violent extremists. It is important in
the campaign to end terrorism to help the people in the
Islamic and other countries know the real America, the
record of international generosity with no territorial ambitions,
the self-less efforts to help bring peace and the U.S.
leadership and risks taken in protecting Muslim peoples in
Kosovo and elsewhere.
