In order to examine the big picture, we need to understand the goals of each side in this war and then evaluate performance versus those goals. In my estimation, here are the goals of the Bush Administration in the War on Terror and an evaluation of progress on each:
Goal: Destroy terrorist training camps and reduce territorial strongholds of Al Qaeda.
Progress: US military action in Afghanistan was successful in deposing the Taliban and forcing Al Qaeda to move operations, but the job has yet to be completed. Bin Laden is still at large and the War in Iraq has provided additional strongholds for terrorism.
Goal: Bring Freedom and Democracy to the Middle East in an effort to create regimes friendly to America
Progress: This goal is the dubious link between the War on Terror and the War in Iraq. At best, it is unclear as to how the democratic process is taking hold in Iraq. If a theocratic government aligned with Iran comes to power, then the Iraqi democracy experiment will have to be considered a failure, especially considering that Iraq under Saddam Hussein was an enemy of Iran.
Goal: Deal with rogue states sponsoring terrorism.
Progress: This was another alleged link of Iraq to the War on Terror, but this has been summarily debunked. Other states that fell into this category were Iran and North Korea, both potentially more dangerous than Iraq, but not much has been achieved on this goal.
I did my best to put forth these goals based on Bush Administration statements and other newspaper accounts about the War on Terror. In looking at this, albeit brief, list, I find it disappointing that none of these goals attempt to address the root causes of Al Qaeda’s terrorism versus the West. While it is true that Bin Laden doesn’t approve of Western Society in general (Freedom, Democracy, Separation of Church and State, etc.), he isn’t, as he said in his letter to America in October 2004, advocating attacks on Sweden. There is more to his motivation to attack the United States than simply hating Freedom and Democracy, which is the simplistic right-wing explanation for terrorism.
If you read the texts of Bin Laden’s statements over the last 10 years, you will see some common threads:
1. America’s role in the Palestinian – Israeli conflict.
2. America’s support for oppressive regimes in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia.
3. The plundering of the Middle East’s resources (oil) by the West.
I haven’t listed these items to show support for Bin Laden or to suggest that the US simply accede to his demands, but to provide a means of understanding the motivation of the enemy. It will be difficult for the United States to make progress in the War on Terror if it operates blindly with respect to the above grievances.
Let’s turn to Al Qaeda’s goals in its war with the West. In Bin Laden’s Letter to America from October 2004, he stated that America will have security when it stops playing with the security of the Middle East, which really means stop interfering in the politics of the region. In lieu of that, Al Qaeda’s goal is to continue the policy of “bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy.” In this effort, Bin Laden feels that the Bush Administration has been extremely accommodating.
All that we have mentioned has made it easy for us to provoke and bait this
administration. All that we have to do is to send two mujahidin to the furthest
point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al-Qaida, in order to
make the generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic, and
political losses without their achieving for it anything of note other than some
benefits for their private companies.
Has Al Qaeda made progress in its policy to drive America to bankruptcy? Yes, I think it has and the Bush Administration has been its unwitting ally. By engaging in the folly in Iraq, the Administration has committed billions to the effort, and few in Washington seem to be paying any attention to the cost of the war and the surging Federal Deficit. Iraq and the War on Terror are also bleeding this country in other ways such as the loss of fine young soldiers, the loss of civil liberties and the decline of the rule of law.
I bring this up because I find it disturbing that the goals of the enemy are being achieved through the actions of the Bush Administration. It’s like a football team that scores touchdowns for its opponent and then its head coach says he wants to stick with the game plan. Isn’t it time to re-evaluate the goals of the War on Terror so that we can stop achieving the ends of the enemy? Unfortunately, everyone in the country seems to be engaged in partisan discussions rather than finding a global solution to the problem of terrorism. Perhaps I expect too much of our elected leaders, but if terrorism policy continues on its present course, we could be looking at the beginning of the demise of the American Empire.
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