The ground rules for fighting terrorism
by Harry Browne
Friday, October 5, 2001
This 3-part series will propose the actions I believe our government should take to fight terrorism.
Before looking at those proposals, however, we need to establish some
ground rules.
Perfection Isn't an Option
Rule #1: No solution is going to be perfect.
Our government has created ill will in many parts of the world. It
has bullied smaller countries, imposed
new governments upon people
who didn't want them, and demanded that other governments do what
our
government wants. It's unrealistic to think that there's anything
that can be done now to quickly undo
all the ill will.
I have been criticized for dwelling on what our government has done
that led to the terrorist attacks. But
if we don't understand what
provoked this, we can't evaluate any response to it — and we can
expect
that the faulty policies will continue and provoke more such
attacks against Americans.
Foreign Policy Is the Issue
Rule #2: It is American foreign policy that has provoked the attacks, not anything inherent in Muslim fundamentalism.
There are hundreds of millions of Muslims in the world who don't
believe in killing non-Muslims. In fact,
Muslims have been killed in
Arab terrorist attacks, just as non-Muslims have.
In an interview conducted by John Miller for Esquire magazine in
February 1999, Osama bin
Laden said: "This is my message to the
American people: to look for a serious government that
looks out for
their interests and does not attack others, their lands, or their
honor. And my word to
American journalists is not to ask why we did
that but ask what their government has done that forced
us to defend
ourselves."
The fact that bin Laden uses bad means to achieve his ends doesn'texcuse our own government's
mistakes; nor does it justify our government doing the same things he does.
Bombing Doesn't Work
Rule #3: Bombing foreign countries doesn't end terrorism, it provokes
it.
Our government has bombed Libya, Iraq, the Sudan, and Afghanistan,
among other countries,
supposedly to teach terrorists a lesson. But
the bombings haven't caused terrorists or foreign
governments to
change their policies.
This Is a Crime, Not War
Rule #4: The terrorist attacks are a criminal matter, not a war.
War is by definition an armed conflict between governments. No
government has claimed
responsibility for the September 11 attacks,
and no government has been so accused.
Calling the present situation a war is an excuse to impose wartime
policies against Americans and
foreigners — including violations of
the Bill of Rights and killing foreign civilians.
Because the September attacks were a crime, the government's job is
to locate and bring to
trial any perpetrators who didn't die in the
attacks. If some of them are located in foreign
countries, our
government should request extradition — not threaten to bomb the
foreign country
if we don't get our way.
If not all the criminals are found and brought to trial, it doesn't
mean that bombing innocent people
would have brought the criminals to
justice.
Reverse Positions
Rule #5: If you think you or America is entitled to something,
reverse the positions
and see how you'd react.
If Afghanistan doesn't turn bin Laden over to our government, ask
yourself whether you'd want
your government to turn you over to the
Iranian government if it accused you of a crime.
If you don't think that American troops in almost a hundred foreign
countries are a source of
resentment, ask yourself how you'd feel if
Chinese troops were stationed in America.
If you believe America has a right to bomb foreign countries for the
actions of a few, ask yourself
whether you'd want foreign governments
to bomb your city because of something Bill Clinton did.
(Haven't we
already established that the terrorists were wrong to act upon their
hatred for
American foreign policy by killing innocent civilians?)
Government Is Incompetent
Rule #6: Government does not do anything well — even those functions
delegated
to it by the Constitution.
The government has the Constitutional authority to operate a Post
Office. But if it's urgent
that a package get to the other side of
America by tomorrow morning, will you trust the
Constitutional Post
Office or will you use Federal Express?
Don't assume that just because the government has the legal authority
to do something that it
will actually succeed. So be careful what you
ask for.
What Is the Object?
Rule #7: There's no way to eliminate all terrorism in the world.
Terrorists have existed since Biblical times. There will always be
such criminals —
people who will kill innocent bystanders to make a
social or political statement, or to bring
pressure on a government
to change its policies.
Saying that terrorism will be eradicated is not only unrealistic, it
is asinine. It indicates that the
speaker shouldn't be trusted in
anything else he says.
What is realistic is the goal of reducing considerably the threat of
terrorism against the U.S.
In my next two articles, I'll present proposals for achieving this.
more HB at harrybrowne.org