DAN. K. THOMASSON Security needed to offset animosity

WASHINGTON -- Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser to President Carter, opined the other day that Islamic terrorists don't hate freedom, they hate a specific group of people or a specific country -- in this case, Americans and America. The implication of his statement made the already chilling events unfolding in Iraq even more so, particularly for U.S. and other civilians who must shoulder much of the burden of reconstruction.
For the thousands of noncombatants -- engineers, construction workers, freight haulers, oil-field workers, private security forces and others -- lured to Iraq by high wages, patriotism, altruism and any number of other reasons, the always-dangerous assignment is becoming intolerably so as insurgents and extremists have turned on them as a means of undercutting coalition objectives. In fact, the recent spate of kidnappings and brutal killing of contract civilians working in support of the American occupation is threatening to set back the goal of stabilization for months, if not longer.
It might be appropriate here to point out that Brzezinski is well-qualified to talk about the animosity toward Americans in that part of the world, having been in the White House at a time when such anger first came to full bloom in the Iranian hostage crisis because of misguided policies that had a large role in destabilizing the region. The Carter administration's refusal of continued support for the pro-Western shah of Iran and benign response to the assumption of power by religious zealots can't be ignored as a factor in shaping the anti-American landscape.
Seeming inability
Most disturbing in the current situation is the seeming inability of coalition military forces to protect those who need to be working with some assurance of safety if they are to succeed. If they have now become the middlemen in this struggle and left to fend for their own security, George W. Bush's stated objective of bringing democracy to Iraq as a model for the rest of the Middle East is probably a long way from happening.
In the last few weeks, private security forces have responded as valiantly as possible to protect the interests of their civilian employers. Many of them are ex-military men trained as commandos and specialists. But the fact that they are involved to the degree they are seems to be a direct result of a stubborn refusal by the Pentagon's civilian bosses to provide adequate military forces or even coordinate with the private security teams. A small contingent of private commandos held off an attack on a coalition post, but got no help from the military. Amazingly, private contract forces are guarding even Paul Bremer, the president's manager in Iraq.
Finally, there appears to be some relenting, with military commanders asking for more troops and Bush stating they would have what they needed. But will that be enough? Before the first shot was fired a year ago, military experts were divided about how many men and women would be necessary to keep the peace. Estimates went as high as 300,000 to control a nation of more than 24 million while the job of rebuilding was under way. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his deputies refused to heed the warnings, consistently arguing that the current 120,000 or so was adequate.
Still short
Unfortunately, the president's sanctioning of more troops not only comes somewhat late as evidenced by the mounting number of civilian and military deaths, but the additional troop strength still seems short of what is necessary. Much of the increase will result from holding out of rotation forces that already have been there for some time.
It is easy to sit here and second-guess, but it should be evident to even those of us whose last military experience was nearly 50 years ago that overwhelming force is the best deterrent. Well-disciplined and -trained pacification patrols, like those in Bosnia, on every street corner in the real hot spots would have gone a long way toward discouraging insurgents and convincing the vast majority of Iraqis who want to work and prosper in peace that we have their best interests at heart.
More important, the thousands of private contractors and support groups could do their jobs in an atmosphere of relative safety. Overcoming the animosity to which Brzezinski was referring is vital to any hope of success. It is a monumental assignment, but it is absolutely necessary if we are ever to escape what easily could become a Vietnam-like morass.
XThomasson is former editor of the Scripps Howard.