The greatest issue that we, as Americans, face today is terrorism. No other problem is capable of creating the confusion, division, and tragedy that terrorism has already caused. Even worse, terrorism is likely to continue to be an issue many years into the future. However, the president’s present course of action is not the solution to the problem.
The biggest mistake of both the Bush Administration and the war on terror was the invasion of Iraq. The evidence supporting Bush’s invasion turned out to be false and should have been recognized as unreliable. The claim that Iraq was developing nuclear technology was being refuted by the United Nations and Joseph Wilson. Wilson was sent by the White House to Niger to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein was interested in purchasing yellowcake, a form of unrefined uranium, from the country. When he reported that the claim was false, a member of the Bush Administration committed a federal offense by leaking that Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, was a spy working for the CIA. Much of the information came from Ahmad Chalabi, an Iraqi exile living in London who had an active interest in Hussein’s overthrow. Once Hussein was usurped, Chalabi could then take power, or be placed in power by the U.S., in Iraq.
Because it was planned as well as it was investigated, the war is prolonging the problems it was intended to solve. Since the troops were lacking in both number and armor, they were completely unprepared for the sectarian violence that erupted in Iraq. The political vacuum allows terrorism to find a new home in Iraq. Thus, I am hesitant to withdraw troops before political stability is established. However, I am uncomfortable leaving over 150,000 American troops caught in the crossfire between Shi’a and Sunni without a clear strategy for ending the violence, something President Bush has not been able to provide in four years.
The war in Iraq has also shifted attention away from catching Osama bin Laden who is still at large in Afghanistan or Pakistan. The Taliban are even regaining power. Bush’s crusade does not create a terrorist haven in Iraq instead of Afghanistan; it creates a haven in Iraq in addition to one in Afghanistan.
Furthermore, President Bush’s whole approach to the war on terror can best be described as Orwellian. His statement that “we are fighting terrorists over there [in Iraq] so we don’t have to fight them over here” parallels “War is Peace” more closely than any other sentence I have ever heard outside of 1984. Bush tells us that “Ignorance is Strength” everyday. That is why enemy combatants cannot be made aware of their accusations. That is why recipients of National Security Letters (NSLs) are given gag orders preventing them from disclosing to the public what the government has requested of them. That is why executive privilege is invoked whenever Congress or the public demands answers. If the terrorists knew what we knew, they could use that knowledge against us! Big Brother is trying to protect you! The worst part is the “Freedom is Slavery” parallel. For the Bush Administration, freedom from worry from terrorist threats entails slavery to constant monitoring of phone calls, mail, and e-mail.
Democracy cannot be defended by suspending its core ideals. Freedoms of speech and of press; rights to privacy, a speedy trial, and trial by jury; protections from unreasonable search and seizure and cruel and unusual punishment are all basic ideas of the Bill of Rights. The belief that suspending these freedoms is the only way to ensure that they will continue is ludicrous, especially when we have not even tried to fight terrorism while maintaining these freedoms.
No, we must take the high road in the war on terror. Domestic surveillance and police operations should be carried out with no greater leeway than that before 9/11. A clearer strategy must be found in the war in Iraq and a military presence must be kept there until the country becomes politically stable. Osama bin Laden must be captured and should be given a fair trial.
Two broader policies must be adopted to combat the larger problem of radical Islam. First, we should create a federally funded program to promote energy independence and renewable fuel. This will be our generation’s NASA, our generation’s Apollo Program. The president, like Kennedy with the moon landing in 1961, should declare the goal of being energy independent in ten years. In addition to the environmental benefits, money will stop being funneled through oil-producing Arab nations and into the hands of terrorist organizations.
Furthermore, a new Marshall Plan is needed to invigorate the economy of the Middle East and North Africa. Many young men are drawn to terrorist organizations by promises of food, water, an education, and money to provide for their families after they die. Like the Marshall Plan, recipient nations should draft their own proposals for using U.S. money. Money should be given to any country who wishes to receive it; then, charges of imperialism will not hold. Furthermore, the people of nations who fail to ask for money or spend it wisely will seek change within their governments and pro-U.S. ones will take their place.
This is the only way terrorism can be combated. Proclaiming that we are building democracy overseas while dismantling the one we have back home is dubiously hypocritical. If we avoid one thing, it should be moderate Muslims’ suspicions of U.S. actions.
