Because enquiring minds wanted to know:
Names kept private for obvious reasons.
> As some of you are already aware, I was once the
Associate Director for
> Counter-Terrorism & Emergency Planning at the State
Department and have
> done
> some private consulting work in that field since my
retirement. Several
of
> you have asked me for an opinion on today's events.
For whatever it may
be
> worth, here's my two cents.
>
> What happened today was not specifically a result of
our policy towards
> Israel and/or the Palestinians, although that policy
certainly is a
> component part of the hatred directed against us by
the fundamentalist
> Islamic world. From their perspective, we are, as
the Iranians call us
> "the
> Great Satan" because our society and our culture is
seen as seducing their
> young people away from what they believe to be
proper and appropriate
> submission to Allah. It is not coincidental that
one of the first major
> acts of terrorism against the Shah in Teheran was
the bombing of a crowded
> movie theater playing what fundamentalists
considered to be scandalous,
> idolatrous films. American television, film, books,
music and pop culture
> is the predominant force around the world and the
most conservative
> elements
> of Islam fear and hate it. In places like Saudi
Arabia and Afghanistan,
> simple possession of an entertainment video tape is
a serious crime.
>
> It is critical to recognize that our opponents have
a totally different
> cultural approach to the world and a worldview that
is so different from
> ours as to make them seem as if they are from
another planet. We must not
> make the mistake of trying to deal with them as if
they would or even
could
> respond as we would under the same or similar
circumstances. They can't
> and
> won't. During the Second World War we saw critical
differences between
the
> Germans and the Japanese. Despite the bestiality
the Germans were capable
> of, they remained western in outlook and could and
did accept defeat. The
> Japanese - equally bestial - were prepared to die to
the last man, woman
> and
> child and could conceive of no greater glory than
dying for the emperor.
> Our attempts in early 1945 to deal with the Japanese
as if they were
> rational (by our standards), was doomed to failure
because they simply
> could
> not hear what we were saying and, regrettably, we
had the same problem in
> hearing them. In dealing with Islamic nations, we
will have to learn a
new
> language, if we are to be effective in reaching a
reasonable
accommodation.
>
> The rub is that reasonable accommodation is only
possible in a culture
> where
> compromise is an honorable means to an end. Where
one side takes its
> instructions directly from God, compromise may never
be possible. There
> have been sufficient number of holy wars fought in
the West to remind us
> that true believers are frightening people. In the
past few days, we all
> saw the incredible images of hatred on Protestant
faces directed against
> Catholic schoolchildren in Belfast. Scenes eerily
reminiscent of Alabama
> and Mississippi in the 1960's. The genocidal wars
of the Balkans were
> fought, as well, along religious lines. Next to
nationalism, religion is
> probably the most destructive force ever created by
man. I say created by
> man because there are so many competing groups, each
convince that it and
> it
> alone is the authentic voice of God and that all
other are doomed. Once
> you
> are convinced that your enemy is also the enemy of
God and that God has
> forsaken him then all things are possible and no act
too cruel.
>
> In the short term, we will have to live with
significantly more day-to-day
> inconveniences. We will have to be serious about
our airport security and
> that of major government and civilian facilities.
This will cost money
and
> will not happen overnight. We must stop worrying
about the "rogue"
missile
> from North Korea which does not even exist and worry
more about the car
> bomb
> which does. This battle over threat is not new.
Almost twenty years ago,
> when I first got into this business, there was group
which worried about
> and
> continues to worry about "weapons of mass
destruction". It would be the
> height of folly not to worry about these things but
even greater folly to
> place this worry at the top of our list. The number
one weapon of
> terrorists world wide is the car bomb. From Beirut
to Oklahoma and all
> stops in-between, more people have been killed by
car bombs than all other
> terrorist weapons. They are easy to make, materials
are readily available
> and they work. Today's attacks were made by
airborne car bombs.
>
> The two realistic methods of defense are first of
all, good intelligence
> and
> secondly good contingency planning. In 1997, I
wrote the counter and
> anti-terrorist security plan for the New Seoul
International Airport. I
> had
> a lot of help from experts in many fields to assure,
to the degree
possible
> that we covered all the bases. Nevertheless, unless
the plan is regularly
> exercised and updated, it is about as useful as a
doorstop. Why has no El
> Al aircraft ever been hijacked or bombed? because
the Israelis take
> security seriously and do not employ minimum wage
people to monitor x-ray
> scanners. Because they take the threat seriously,
they employ some of
> their
> best people and willingly spend the money to keep
their people alert and
on
> guard. We must do the same. For any of you who may
have served in the
> armed forces, you will remember standing sentry
duty. The first time out,
> you are incredibly alert, all nerve ends straining
to hear the faintest
> sound, see the slightest shadow. As the days go by
and nothing happens,
> you
> begin to relax. By the end of a few weeks, they
could drive dump trucks
> past you without your notice. Add to this monotony
a minimum wage and
> little education, you get four hijackings in one
day.
>
> A final point. What happened today was planned
months ago, possibly as
> much
> as a year or more. Terrorists do not suddenly wake
up one morning, decide
> to steal four airplanes and with exquisite precision
crash into three
major
> buildings. It took a lot of time, a lot of
reconnaissance and a lot of
> planning. It is during this stage that they are the
most vulnerable.
> After
> the fact reports from most terrorist incidents are
replete with examples
of
> people noticing other people shriveling the site but
failing to think
> anything about it or to report it to anyone. I am
sure that we will see
> the
> same thing when this investigation is completed.
Good security starts
with
> control of your perimeter and knowledge of who is
there and who shouldn't
> be.
>
> Meanwhile, life will go back to normal and, until
the next possibly
> avoidable tragedy, we will revert to our old sloppy
habits.
"healthy, wealthy and wise" |
