|
PEACE:
Foreign Policy & Terrorism | July 7, 2005
THE
FEARSOME
--
AND
HOPEFUL
--
FACTS OF
LIFE
Who cannot
imagine themselves as having been one of those aboard that
quaint, quintessential symbol of old Londontown, the
double-decker bus -- the one so hideously blown apart in the
street like some enormous red fish lying gutted on the beach.
Who cannot
imagine themselves as having been one of those trapped within
The Tube, as the subway commute turned from mundane to
murderous, smoke
and screams and death and dismemberment filling the
all-too-enclosed space between you and escape.
But who can
imagine themselves as one of the inhuman beings who carefully
planned these atrocities for years, stealthily avoiding the
armies of counter-terrorism agents ever-vigilant for just such
threats. And who can imagine themselves actually executing the
wicked plot, this precisely synchronized slaughter of innocents?
As security
expert after security expert on the morning news drones on and
on about how there is no way to ever move so many people so
quickly through our mass transit systems without the constant
threat of attacks like this (or worse), it becomes depressingly
apparent that terrorism will not end by increasing security, as
vital as that obviously is.
And just as
obviously, the "war on terror" cannot be
"won" by the invasion of nations that have actually
sponsored Al Qaeda, such as Afghanistan under the Taliban -- as
absolutely vital as that was (as is the continuing hunt for Bin
Laden et al.) -- let alone by the invasion of nations that had
nothing to do with 9/11 and Al Qaeda, such as Iraq -- large
segments of which are now in fact much more of a threat to us
(particularly, although not exclusively, to our troops).
Radical
Islamic terrorism is a cancer upon the civilized world --
including the Muslim world, whose faith is perverted to such
unholy effects -- but it is less a tumor that can be surgically
removed than a malignancy that has metastasized throughout the
international community.
The uneasy
question then, in the back of many of our minds, is are we truly
faced with a terminal condition? Will the reactionaries in one
culture inflame those in another, and those inflame yet others
in another, until the entire world is consumed by hatred and
violence, both stateless and well-regimented?
The uneasy
answer is, of course, no one knows for sure.
However, I
can see the light of hope through the smoke of fear.
In those very
streets of London shaken by explosions today, for years there
were bloody bombings committed by extremists from Northern
Ireland.
During the
darkest days, it must have looked like the carnage would never
stop. But it did stop. How did it stop? And how, in God's name
(Allah or otherwise), might we stop this current madness?
The bombings
and violence in Northern Ireland and England -- inflamed in no
small measure by religious passions as vehement as those fueling
today's worldwide war of terror -- came to an end only after
sufficient numbers of everyday people on both sides of the
dispute became so sickened and enraged that they demanded an end
to the insanity, particularly for the sake of the children, and
withdrew their support from the most radical and intransigent
factions within their numbers.
And of
course, the
brilliant and compassionate diplomacy of widely respected former
Senator George Mitchell, dispatched by then President
Clinton, played a key role in making the peace between the
mortal enemies (By the way, if John Kerry had become President,
Senator Mitchell's name would undoubtedly be on the short list
of nominees to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor; that is the high standard against which I will judge
the eventual nominee from the current President).
History,
thus, does strongly suggest that although intelligence,
security, and -- in the proper place -- military force do have
vital roles in "combating terrorism", the only way to
actually put an end to the otherwise endless cycle of violence
and reprisals is reaching out, sincerely and tenaciously, to the
more moderate elements in those societies harboring and
producing the radicals promoting, planning, and perpetrating the
violence.
We must, of
course, do everything in our power to defend ourselves, with
force if necessary (although that does not excuse those who use
real threats as excuses to pursue false threats, to settle old
scores or pursue other ends, idealistic or decidedly less so).
However, the
only way to win the war on terror is to undercut its
support overseas; we cannot "hermetically seal" our
"homeland" from every conceivable threat sent our way.
Ultimately
-- as the personal Savior of some of the most warlike as well as
some of the most peaceful among us once preached -- the only
thing that can conquer hate is love.
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