What Kind of War?

By Michael T. Klare, Pacific News Service. Posted September 17, 2001.

President Bush has called upon the nation to engage in a "war against terrorism," a war that must be pursued until final "victory" is achieved. Most Americans support tough action aimed at the eradication of Osama bin Laden's terrorist networks and those of like-minded extremists. But it is not a war against terrorism, per se, that Bush envisions, but a war to ensure continued U.S. military dominance in the Middle East.

In thinking about the war to come, it is important to recognize that "terrorism" is not a cause, like communism, or an identifiable organization, like the PLO or the IRA. Rather, it is a strategy. Throughout history, those who are weak in traditional forms of military power have used unconventional tactics, including terrorist attacks, to overcome those with greater military strength. In the world today, many groups are using such tactics -- the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the Basques in Spain, the rebel forces in Chechnya, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, Hamas in Israel and so on. There is no evidence that President Bush seeks to make war on all of these groups; rather, he clearly intends to fight those who threaten American interests in the Persian Gulf region.

The United States has, of course, been involved in conflict in the Persian Gulf for a very long time. Ever since the British pulled out of the area in 1972, U.S. forces have been on call to protect friendly governments -- especially Saudi Arabia and the conservative Gulf sheikdoms -- and to resist any threat to the free flow of oil. This was the genesis of the "Carter Doctrine" of 1980, and formed the backdrop for Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Since Desert Storm, the United States has amassed sufficient military power in the Gulf area to deter its two leading antagonists, Iran and Iraq, from conducting a direct assault on Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Some 20,000 to 25,000 U.S. military personnel are in the area at all times, and large quantities and arms and equipment have been "pre-positioned" in the area to permit a rapid expansion of U.S. strength.

Although successful in deterring established states like Iran and Iraq, the U.S. military buildup has not succeeded in preventing attacks on U.S. interests by extremists and irregular forces, like the terrorist networks associated with Osama bin Laden. These groups abhor the presence of American military personnel -- most of whom are non-Muslims -- in the vicinity of Islam's holiest sites, especially Jidda and Mecca. They also resent U.S. support for Israel and the continuing U.S.-backed economic sanctions on Iraq, which are said to punish ordinary Muslim Iraqis unfairly.

The anti-American extremists of the Persian Gulf area know they cannot expel the U.S. presence from their midst through conventional military means, so they rely on terrorism. They bombed the U.S.-supported headquarters of the Saudi Arabian National Guard in 1995, the Khobar Towers (a U.S. military apartment complex) in 1996, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the USS Cole in 2000. Now they have struck in New York and Washington.

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