Unlikely Doves: Counter-terrorism Experts

By David Corn, AlterNet. Posted September 28, 2001.

The threat of terrorism cannot be effectively countered unless the United States changes its arrogant, me-first global ways and faces up to the fact that many people in other lands are -- rightly or wrongly -- damn angry at it. This proposition has become something of a mantra among progressives who counsel restraint in response to the horrific attacks of September 11. But it also is a sentiment popular within a subset of the national security establishment: counter-terrorism experts.

I am not suggesting that all the I-know-terrorism talking heads you watch on television are sensitive souls who place a priority on understanding root causes. But since September 11, I have attended several what-to-do-about terrorism meetings in Washington, and I have been surprised to see that many prominent terrorism wonks believe the United States cannot rely solely on a military response and must also re-examine its foreign policy and actions abroad in order to diminish the threat of terrorism at home.

At one conference, Jerrold Post, who was a psychological profiler at the CIA for 21 years and who pioneered the government's effort to fathom the psychology of terrorism, noted the "real dilemma" is the existence of "roiling hatred within the Arab world directed at the United States ... America doesn't have the vaguest idea how much hatred."

Terrorists, Post maintained, exploit people's "feelings of despair over economic conditions ... and [over] totalitarian regimes." He noted the effort against terrorism is "not a military struggle in many ways." Post added, "I do worry about the militarization of the conflict, particularly when civilian populations become casualties ... There is a hazard in the [war] metaphor, if taken too literally ... It could widen that polarization [between the United States and large segments of the Arab world]."

Shibley Telhami, an academic and mainstream think-tanker specializing in the Middle East, said of the Osam bin Laden outfit, "this group captures a popular mood in the region." He also suggested that the United States must mount a "reduction of anger" initiative and that "the shortest answer is moving on the Israeli-Arab peace process."

Some of the people who know terrorism best are warning the public not to expect too much from military force -- in terms of reducing the threat of terrorism. At the same meeting, Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corporation, said military action, while appropriate, "should not be seen as the answer." H. Allen Holmes, a former assistant secretary at both the Defense Department and the Department of State, asserted that any use of force must be accompanied by a U.S. diplomatic effort that seeks to improve the image of America overseas. "We must provide assistance and listen to other states, including states heretofore regarded as rogue states," he said, adding that "there is a strong belief [in the Middle East] that great powers manipulate the governments of the region, and the United States is seen by many as the big manipulator and has become identified with governments unpopular in the region."

A rough consensus might be the following: the attack of September 11 -- the work of evil fascistic extremists -- should not be viewed free of geopolitical context. None of these experts are rationalizing the attack. They are merely realistically assessing larger factors that must be considered when crafting a coherent counterterrorism strategy. After the conference, Holmes, who has served as ambassador to Japan, South Korea and other nations, elaborated: "In a war on terrorism, there will be no victory. We can contain it, slow it down, diminish it. But only if we put together a grand coalition for the long haul to do something about the sources of terrorism. Pakistan has 40 percent illiteracy, a low GNP, so the mosques are turning out terrorists ... We will never abandon Israel, but we need a different idea of how to be a broker. We are so identified with one side of that conflict."

Holmes needed no translator: to curtail terrorism, the United States must change its foreign policies. Doing so will not sway the most fanatical and murderous thugs, such as Osama bin Laden and his crew. They appear to crave a bloody religious war not better wages for Yemeni workers. But the goal -- long-term, to be sure -- is to make it harder for mass-murderers of this sort to recruit followers and win support from portions of the public (such as those Pakistanis who have demonstrated in favor of bin Laden) _and_ to render it easier for the United States and other nations to form multilateral endeavors that can root out and punish terrorists.

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