Helen Thomas tried to get to the root causes of terrorism
Sometimes it seems the the War on Terror is akin to a game of Whack-A-Mole, only the hammers are cruise missiles and predator drones, and the moles have suicide vests.
The attempted Christmas suicide bombing and recent suicide bombing of a CIA station in Afghanistan indicates that these are not isolated incidents. There were also several incidents of both domestic and foreign terrorism under the Bush administration.
About six years ago, I was at a conference with Carlton Pearson, an evangelical preacher who been invited to the White House by President George W. Bush. Pearson said that the president was been misguided by his advisors, and didn't appreciate the complexity of the war he had entered. He said Americans would not truly understand the consequences of the War on Terror until they had to undergo bomb searches before they went into large gatherings.
An article by Ray McGovern, a former CIA officer turned minister, says the U.S. is missing the point on the War on Terror. He cites veteran journalist Helen Thomas, who pressed White House officials for a reason why young Muslims were willing to blow themselves up.
In his article McGovern says that counter terrorism advisor John Brennan waffled with the answer and laid the blame on Al-Qaeda perverting Islam and warping the minds of susceptible young men. McGovern says that the Brennan and the White House are missing the point. He argues that young Muslims are being radicalized not only by Al-Qaeda, but also in response to America's foreign policies.
The war in Iraq was once described as Al-Qaeda's greatest recruiting tool. Muslims are also angry at the U.S.' support of corrupt and dictatorial regimes in the Middle East, the bombing of civilians in Afghanistan and Israel's mistreatment of Palestinians. PR nightmares like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo only fueled Muslim outrage towards the U.S.
The pragmatic attitude towards this problem would be sit down and negotiate some kind of equitable settlement, i.e. land for peace or withdrawing American troops from the Middle East. But that will be very difficult for President Barack Obama to do as he is dealing with a military industrial complex which sees war as good business, and a political and media class who sees talking to the enemy as being wimpy. Additionally, as Obama mentioned in his Nobel speech, I am not sure if you can negotiate with fanatics.
Another problem that Obama has to deal with is the fact that a large segment of the United States populace believes that Israel's policies are backed by God, and Jesus cannot return until Israel has reconquered all of it's original land.
I am not sure if the current War on Terror can be won by bombs and guns. The more Muslim terrorists we kill and the more innocent civilians killed by collateral damage, only creates more people willing to become suicide bombers.
The widow of the Jordanian doctor who detonated a bomb at a CIA base in Afghanistan said she is proud of him because he is now a martyr. With attitudes like that on one side, and attitudes like the ones expressed on FOX News (which advocate bombing, torturing and profiling, everyone who looks "Arab/Muslim.") I am afraid we are doomed to be stuck in a cycle of killing and revenge for a long time. Didn't anyone watch "Munich?"
