Opinion
 

Reasons behind terror not simple

Justin Vann

Anti-terrorism guru Richard Clarke says Bush didn't take al-Qaida seriously. Lt. Col. Robert Patterson, who had the unbelievably cool job of carrying 'the football' containing secret codes the president needs in case of nuclear war, points the finger at Clinton for "[unleashing] global terror." Attorney General John Ashcroft blames me, and everyone else who would try to scare you with "phantoms of lost liberties," for aiding terrorists.

There are plenty of credible sources, but whom should you believe? Believe them all and then some.

As far as America has come socially, politically and economically, we still ignorantly try to grasp the idea that when something bad happens, only one entity is to blame. It is shortsighted and infantile to call one person or one organization solely responsible for the intricate web of terrorist factions across the globe, namely al-Qaida. Here's how America, in it's entirety, is largely responsible:

• Bush and roughly all of his cabinet members have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 9/11 investigative committee, and many are still being uncooperative. Bush has actively tried to stop such a committee from being formed on several occasions. On Sept.18, 2001, Bush allowed private Saudi jets to transport two-dozen blood relatives of Osama bin Laden from America to Paris, out of reach of U.S. investigators. I could write more, but I only have so much space with which to work.

• Bill Clinton carried out the economic sanctions on Iraq that have caused an estimated 500,000 deaths of innocent civilians. Don't forget the massive bombing campaigns, some of which actually targeted hospitals and other civilian structures. In fact, Bill Clinton hurt everyone in Iraq except Saddam Hussein. He also bombed an aspirin factory in Sudan on a hunch that it was a terrorist facility. Clinton hesitated at an opportunity to neutralize bin Laden, and missed his chance.

• The FBI and the CIA failed to effectively share vital information on terrorist activity that could have stopped 9/11. In fact, the CIA has arguably caused terrorism on epic proportions. Roughly $3 billion went to helping the Taliban kill Russians in Afghanistan, even though the government at the time was progressively pursuing women's rights and civil liberties. In the end, half the population of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan was dead, injured or homeless because communism was evil. As we've seen with 9/11, the policy of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" doesn't always work out the way we'd like it to.

• Coups and contras were the name of the game in countless third world nations for the latter half of the 20th century. How many? Give or take a few 30 countries have removed or assassinated democratically elected leaders and replaced them with dictators like Pol Pot, Augusto Pinochet and the Shah of Iran. Both Liberal and Conservative presidents have done it, along with the CIA. Call me crazy, but all this government overthrowing might cause some people to hate us, even push them toward terrorism.

This brings me to what I believe to be the single most powerful catalyst for terrorist activity: U.S. foreign policy. The irony is that we won't seek a permission slip to "defend" America (read: multilateralism), but we'll work alongside murderers, drug traffickers, torturers and the scum of the earth to achieve short-term goals. I'll grant that it was tactically necessary to ally with Stalin in World War II to defeat Hitler, but this strategy has gotten out of control. We must refuse to work with countries that violate international human rights laws. We should respect the sovereignty of peaceful nations, even if it inconveniences us politically. Until we do the above and stop the incessant finger pointing over who caused 9/11, the millions of lives and trillions of dollars of "collateral damage" we've caused will find its way back to us, eventually. 

Vann, a columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at vann_mann@hotmail.com.