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We are all horrified and shocked by the horrendous events which have occurred recently in which thousands of innocent victims were killed by well organized terrorists actions directed against people and buildings in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. From various news reports and statements of U.S. government officials, it seems that our government believes that:
1. The terrorist actions were planned, organized, and carried out by the bin Laden group;
2. The Taliban government in Afghanistan has provided harbor for the bin Laden group;
3. Elements within the government of Iraq, and possible others, have provided support of various kinds for the bin Laden group.
The U.S. government, with the support and possible cooperation of other nations, is preparing a series of responses directed at the bin Laden group, the Taliban government, the Iraqi government, and to the general problem of terrorism. Among the likely responses is a strong military action by the U.S. and its allies.
What can those of us who have been working for a just, peaceful, humane and sustainable world do in the light of the above? I suggest that we should be sending the following message to our political leaders: to the President and members of his Cabinet, to members of Congress, and to other people who influence policy:
It is important to encourage thoughtful, deliberate policy-making which has a long-term perspective and which fully takes into account the possible long-term consequences of one's action. There should be every effort to resist premature judgments and actions. Time must be taken for careful policy-making. Hot-tempered actions, based upon a primitive impulse for revenge, are likely to be ineffective, costly, unduly dangerous to ourselves and to many innocent people, and to produce long-term consequences which promote rather than eliminate terrorism.
I suggest that the best long-term strategy will involve:
(a) Differentiating Islam and the terrorist groups so that the terrorist groups are perceived to be anti-Islam rather than acting as agents of Islam. This will involve very strong opposition to anti-Muslim actions in the U.S. and elsewhere. It will also require getting the active support of Muslim religious authorities in denouncing terrorism and terrorist groups. We do not want our actions against terrorist groups to provoke a war with Islam (this is exactly what the terrorists want). We want to cooperate with Islam in de-legitimizing violence against
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civilians whatever their religious background. We should encourage leading Islamic religious figures to broadcast statements that people who engage in terrorism are not acceptable in the Islamic community, will not be allowed to enter paradise in the after-life, and will be condemned for eternity.
(b) Addressing the causes which engender hatred and terrorism toward the United States. The causes are discussed below under [3]. Although it would be a mistake to feel that the actions and policies of the United States in any way justify the terrorist actions, it is well to examine in what ways we can prevent or reduce the animus against the United States.
We can support diplomatic, political, economic, and limited military actions to bring to justice those who planned, organized, or provided support to the terrorist actions. The implementation should be so focused and limited that it results in no or minimal harm to the population of the countries attacked. Through disproportionate and cruel actions we do not want to create a backlash which will only create more terrorists and a continuous cycle of destruction.
We must begin to think seriously about the causes of terrorism and address its causes rather than believe that violence against terrorism will eliminate it. Long-term effective action to eliminate terrorism and other forms of violence will mainly involve positive action to eliminate its causes. Its causes are manifold: psychological, economic, political, religious, educational, and the easy availability of highly destructive weapons. Each of these causes are addressed briefly:
(a) Psychological: It is important to understand the underlying motivations and cognitive perspectives of both the leaders and also the followers of organized terrorist groups. At a deep level, it has been well stated that "violence is the expression of impotence grown unbearable." At a more direct level, the leaders of terrorist groups such as those connected with the drug traffic are mainly seeking to protect and promote their illegal business. In contrast, the leaders of such groups as bin Laden's are seeking to promote a political-religious ideology under conditions in which they feel impotent to achieve their objectives through peaceful means. (Osama bin Laden apparently seeks to destroy the modern, secular, democratic, dominating, globalizing capitalism as symbolized by the United States and return to a more medieval, pre-capitalistic theocratic world (such as found in the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan).
Continued on p. 5...
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