Bin Laden and Mandela: Yesterday’s Freedom Fighters, Today’s Terrorist? By William G. Martin September 2001
Bin Laden and Mandela: Yesterday’s Freedom Fighters, Today’s Terrorist?
read more
Terrorism
Shelve Plan for Missile Defense
Almost every aspect of U.S. military policy is likely to be affected by Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, but one that is certain to come under intense scrutiny is the Bush administration’s plan for a national missile defense (NMD).
Pakistan’s Day of Reckoning
The Tuesday tragedy in the U.S. is already having a profound impact on Pakistan. The apocalypse in the U.S. has forced upon the Pakistani ruling elite its day of reckoning sooner than it had anticipated. The Pakistan military, which is also running the government here since October 1999, now has to choose clearly and unequivocally between a direct confrontation with the militant religious groups–and there are dozens of them–and the wrath of a wounded and angry America.
Thought Not Vengeance
I write this as the extent of the carnage from the terrorist attacks continues to unfold. My hands are still shaking as I sit at my computer. Like most Americans, I am still in shock at the horror and the extent of innocent lives lost.
U.S. Under Attack: Implications for Muslims Everywhere
What has happened is catastrophic. It is even worse than Pearl Harbor. Words cannot describe the magnitude of the human tragedy that has taken place. The consequences of this event will be far reaching, and will have global as well as local impact on Muslims.
Foreign Policy Shift: The Terrible Trade-Offs
The United States used to judge countries by whether or not they supported Washington in its anti-Soviet crusade. Now it appears that foreign governments will be rewarded or punished by whether or not they become part of the U.S.-led war against terrorism, particularly of the Islamist kind.
How the War Against Terrorism Could Escalate
>Ever since hijacked aircraft smashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, the White House and the Pentagon have been devising a menu of retaliatory strikes against those deemed responsible. Just 24 hours after the attacks, President Bush reported he and his national security team had made preliminary plans for a sustained military campaign against terrorism. “This battle will take time and resolve,” he noted, “but make no mistake about it: we will win.”
What Bin Laden and Global Warming Have in Common
Toward the end of President Bush’s September 24 statement about freezing terrorists’ assets, one finds the overlooked but no less remarkable assertion that the U.S. is “working closely with the United Nations, the EU and through the G-7/G-8 structure to limit the ability of terrorist organizations to take advantage of the international financial systems.” Still more remarkably, he declared, “The United States has signed, but not yet ratified, two international conventions, one of which is designed to set international standards for freezing financial assets. I’ll be asking members of the U.S. Senate to approve the UN convention on suppression of terrorist financing and a related convention on terrorist bombings and to work with me on implementing the legislation.”
Asking “Why”
Ever since Tuesday morning, I have been asking myself “why?”–Why did they do it?–What could possibly drive a dozen or so people to such a fever pitch of rage and anger that they would not only kill thousands of ordinary American people but also kill themselves in the process? Consider that the perpetrators of the attack–about 20 or so–got up that day and said to themselves, today we will die. I think its almost impossible for us in this country to conceive of what would drive people to this state of rage. And we are certainly getting no help on this from government officials or the usual crowd of pundits, who seem to be avoiding this very question. Instead, all we hear is talk of unidentified “terrorists” and “enemies.” But we have to understand these people, if we are to protect ourselves and the world from this type of slaughter.
Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan
Not a shot has been fired–yet–at Afghanistan’s Taliban, but the country’s beleaguered population already is paying a heavy price for the ruling militia’s pariah status as host to alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.