Bush's spin on homegrown anthrax and Taliban-American John Walker
by Arianna Huffington
Arianna Online
12.13.01
President Bush has made one thing clear: The war on terror is us vs. them. He's taken every opportunity to brand the terrorists and the Taliban as "the evil ones" -- the unmistakable contrast in this theological tableau being that we Americans are the "good ones."
So what are we to make of John Walker, the 20-year-old All-American kid who turned Taliban warrior -- and even condoned the Sept. 11 attack on his homeland?
I was always troubled by the president's repeated references to "the evil ones" -- from his first press conference after the attack, when he mentioned "the evil one" and "evildoers" five times, to his recent vow that "across the world and across the years, we will fight the evil ones, and we will win." I objected not because the terrorists aren't evil but because, as much as we would love it to be true, such a simple demarcation of good and evil flies in the face of history, religion and human nature.
The lure of this kind of reductionist thinking is not a new one. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, himself a victim of some of the most horrific evil of the 20th century, warned against it in "The Gulag Archipelago": "If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being."
Since Walker's capture, his friends and family have described him as "a sweet, kind, intelligent kid" with "a wonderful sense of humor," a devout Muslim who planned to go to medical school, then minister to the poor of Pakistan. So how did this "sweet kid" end up fighting arm-in-arm with the Taliban in the bloody riot at the Kala Jangi fortress in which a CIA agent was savagely beaten to death?
The answer is as simple as it is complex. "Now is the time to draw the line in the sand against the evil ones," said the president. The problem is the line in the sand is inside each human being. Walker crossed that line when he made the choice to embrace evil. Might the shocking revelation of "one of us" among "one of them" stop the president from being so smug as to think that carrying an American passport somehow exempts us from crossing that line?
First indications are not promising. When asked about Walker, W, the Slayer of Evil, went positively mushy, calling the AK-47-toting Talib "this poor fellow" who had "obviously been misled." Apparently "evil" automatically morphs into "misled" when pronounced with an American accent.
Since the president seems convinced that evil is an Al-Jazeera exclusive, I suggest he take a look at the mounting evidence that the terrorists responsible for the anthrax attacks are homegrown. New tests show that the powder used in the deadly mailings was of a strength that has only been produced by the U.S. military. The FBI is focusing on the likelihood that someone connected to America's now defunct biowarfare program is behind the attacks.
"I don't think they're manufacturing this in caves," said Dr. Ken Alibek, a scientist who used to work in the Soviet Union's germ weapons program. "It's coming from another source." One with a U.S. return address.
Nevertheless, the president continues to divide humanity into the moral equivalent of shirts and skins. "Our responsibility to history," he said, "is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil." And this is a man who balked at nation building? Not only is this a ludicrous principle on which to base a foreign policy but also an equally ludicrous interpretation of the world's major religions. Mr. Bush should pull out his trusty Bible and brush up on what it says about original sin.
American ingenuity has come up with a vaccine against anthrax. But it has not come up with a way to inoculate us against evil. To pretend otherwise is to hold a worldview that cannot incorporate developments such as an American Talib, American bioterrorists, or whatever other red, white and blue bombshells the future may hold.
Arianna Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of eight books. To respond to this article, report a problem or provide general feedback to the editors of this site, click here.
White, middle-class and Taliban
by Debra J. Saunders
IF AL QAEDA trainee and Taliban fighter John Walker, 20, had been born Abdul Hamid -- the Arab name he gave himself -- somewhere in the Middle East, most Americans would dismiss the prisoner-of-war as just another woman-hating loser who deserves whatever misery POW status entails.
Lucky for Walker, he's white, middle-class and American. He's: One of Us. Yes, he's misguided, but he grew up in Marin, where being misguided -- at least for an anti-American cause -- is a rite of passage. He grew up among people who believe that meaning well is more important than doing well.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that a de facto Walker fan club has taken to painting the grubby POW as a young Luke Skywalker who, as a family friend told The Chronicle, made a wrong turn on a spiritual quest. (Which makes Osama bin Laden what? Obi-Wan Kenobi.)
Mother Marilyn Walker told Newsweek that her son, who enlisted as a soldier for a group that imprisons women and kills infidels, is a "sweet, shy kid." Forget that Walker told Newsweek he supported the September 11 attacks that killed thousands of innocent civilians, Father Frank Lindh called Walker "a good boy," to whom he wanted to give a big hug and "maybe a little kick in the butt for not asking my permission to go to Afghanistan."
Astonishingly, Walker's screw-up parents aren't his only defenders. The fatuous Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told CNN's Larry King that Walker is "an idealist who really believed in what he was doing." Worse, Hatch said: "I would like to go after those who corrupted this idealistic kid and I would like to give him a break if I can."
Does Hatch have any idea how bad he makes America look?
I learned about Walker last week at the French Foreign Ministry, as diplomatic staff handed me an article in Le Monde about "le jeune Americain" in the Taliban. Imagine how they would cackle if the U.S. government decided not to try Walker in court because he's an "idealistic kid."
As one U.S. official reacted, "We are asking countries around the world to take actions against their citizens who are joining the Taliban and al Qaeda and trying to bring death and destruction elsewhere, and we're asking them to crack down on their people." If America goes easy on U.S. citizens fighting with the enemy, the White House might as well send engraved cards inviting other governments to go easy on their terrorist cells.
The official added, "Poor misguided youths with a religious bent? If that's good enough to get you off for an American, it ought to be good enough to get you off for an Afghan or a Saudi."
But for some people, stopping terror isn't as important as stopping consequences for their precious progeny. Guilt has been a Fountain of Youth for Walker. He's a "kid," according to his mother and Hatch, a "boy," according to his dad.
Funny, when Walker was 16, he was grown-up enough to take the high school equivalency exam and graduate high school. He was grown up enough to travel the globe alone, as his parents bankrolled his journey for spiritual enlightenment.
But now that there are consequences to his soldiering for murderous thugs, he's a baby.
E-mail Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@sfchronicle.com.
Changing The Profile
by Emil Guillermo
Let's thank John Walker, American Taliban fighter, for broadening our horizons.
If you're on the hunt for Al-Qaeda types, you'd better be able to look beyond skin deep. The suburban kid from Marin is making racial profiling a bit passé.
The US has said it will help immigrants gain citizenship if they can provide useful information on bona-fide terrorists working in this country. But it's not as easy as pointing a finger at someone with a beard and turban and saying, "King me."
John Walker proves you just can't do that anymore.
Never mind that Attorney General John Ashcroft seemed absolutely defiant last week defending his use of racial profiling, which has resulted in hundreds of secret arrests since Sept. 11. Unfortunately, he's mostly just harassed innocent Arabs and Muslims for being Arab and Muslim.
If he wants to catch Al-Qaeda types, maybe he should read his own Web site, where he's posted excerpts from an Al-Qaeda training manual.
The handbook, taken by British police during a search of an Al-Qaeda member's home well before the attacks, was translated and used at the trial in New York earlier this year of those accused of bombing the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
It's certainly not what I'd call light holiday reading. Just imagine Waco as Mecca and David Koresh as a Muslim, and you'd get the tome's fundamental flavor.
More than anything, it's a useful aid for citizenship bounty hunters and others looking to snitch on Osama wannabes in the US.
Now, armed with the 98-page document, you can search for Al-Qaeda cells in America as if you were on some Audubon Society bird count. There are no pictures, but you can read all about the proper way a jihadder would jihad in America.
If you're still looking for beards and turbans, boy, are you way off base.
On page 53, under "Measures That Should be Taken by the Undercover Member," the reader is told to "have a general appearance that does not indicate Islamic orientation (beard, toothpick, book, (long) shirt, small Koran.)"
In fact, the manual states that any passport or other public photograph is to be taken sans beard.
These guys are so smart, they probably own stock in Gillette and are dressed like Donald Rumsfeld.
But don't think that type of assimilation doesn't cause some inner conflict.
"How can a Muslim spy live among enemies if he maintains his Islamic characteristics?" the manual writer asks. "How can he perform his duties to Allah and not want to appear Muslim?"
The manual says looking like the godless is okay if it "brings a religious benefit."
Of course, it is still "forbidden to do the unlawful, such as drinking wine or fornicating. There is nothing that permits those."
Thank goodness for standards.
While some of the activities outlined in the manual include the fine points of secret meetings (beware of gifts that could be "booby traps"), some entries seem fairly innocuous. "It is possible to gather at least 80 percent of information about the enemy" -- that's radio, TV, newspapers and magazines -- from public sources, the manual declares. "Attention should also be given to the opinion, comments and jokes of common people."
You want to catch an Al-Qaeda guy? He's probably a couch potato who's watching Leno each night and faxing bin Laden the monologue.
But it's the way Al-Qaeda prescribes how to gather the other 20 percent of information that should really concern us all, and it falls under "Gathering Information through Recruitment."
In other words, Al-Qaeda wants you.
The manual outlines how to entice "an uncommitted person to take part in intelligence work" through the use of:
1. coercion and entanglement,
2. greed and love for money,
3. displaying courage and love of adventure,
4. love of amusement and deviance,
5. mental and political orientation and
6. fear of being harmed.
I suppose you've got to draw the line somewhere.
The top candidates for recruitment? Smugglers, adventurers, seekers of political asylum and people in need, plus workers at coffee shops, restaurants and hotels and employees at border crossings, airports and seaports.
But who are the best candidates? CIA agents, naturally.
"Officials who have a lavish lifestyle and cannot keep up their regular wages, or those who have weaknesses for women, other men or alcoholic beverages. The agent who can be bought using the aforementioned means is an easy target."
Which brings us back to John Walker, at least in name. In 1985, another Walker, former US Navy officer John Anthony Walker, was indicted on six counts of espionage for selling secrets to the Soviet Union over the course of 18 years. Walker's story? He had lost money in investments and was desperate for cash.
Considering the current economic climate, you Al-Qaeda hunters out there would be wise to look into that potentially booming market. The next Al-Qaeda cretin may not be the Mohammad you had in mind, but a guy named John. Or Bob. Or Tom. That's what we can learn from John Walker. Both John Walkers, for that matter. They're the ones of whom to be wary, not the many innocent Arabs and Muslims of America.
Emil Guillermo's book, "Amok," won an American Book Award 2000. He hosts "NCM-TV: New California Media," seen on PBS stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Email him at emil@amok.com.