Saturday, July 31, 2004
While the national debate since the release of the 9/11 commission's report has centered on the recommendation that a Cabinet-level position be created to coordinate the activities of all bureaus and offices that collect intelligence, there is a section deep in the 600-page tome that demands the attention of the White House and Congress.
Here is the rhetorical question the commission poses about the continuing threat of terrorism: "What to do?" But rather than leave it up to the decision makers in Washington to muddle through the political morass that is the federal government to come up with answers, the report offers a detailed plan for achieving victory in what President Bush has called the war on global terrorism.
"To find sanctuary, terrorist organizations have fled to some of the least governed, most lawless places in the world," the report states. "The intelligence community has prepared a world map that highlights possible terrorist havens, using no secret intelligence -- just indicating areas that combine rugged terrain, weak governance, room to hide or receive supplies, and low population density with a town or city near enough to allow necessary interaction with the outside world. Large areas scattered around the world meet these criteria."
Last weekend, the chairman and vice chairman of the 9/11 commission, Thomas H. Kean and Lee Hamilton, appeared on a national television network show and warned that terrorist organizations were seeking sanctuaries around the world that would become training grounds for enemies of the United States.
They identified three countries that are most vulnerable to such infiltration by terror groups: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. It is noteworthy that all three enjoy close relations with the United States.
Warlords
Does it follow, therefore, that all three will do our bidding? Hardly. While the government of Afghanistan is clearly pro-West, large areas of the country are being taken over by adherents of the ousted Taliban government, warlords and narcotraffickers who have no interest in seeing a democratically elected government in Kabul.
It was during the iron-fisted reign of the Taliban when Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of global terrorism, established his training camps in the mountains of Afghanistan from which emerged many of the terrorists who participated in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America.
The 9/11 commission calls on the United States and the international community to help the Afghan government, installed after the United States and its allies invaded the country and ousted the Taliban, extend its authority over the entire nation.
With regard to Pakistan, which played a leading role in the war in Afghanistan, but which has now become the hiding place for bin Laden and members of his Al-Qaida organization, the commission report urges the White House and Congress to make a long-term commitment to the future of that country.
However, it cautions that President Pervez Musharraf must stand for "enlightened moderation in a fight for his life and the life of his country." Gen. Musharraf has been the target of several assassination attempts.
The commission talks about military aid, support for better education and a continuation of the current level of aid to Pakistan if the country's leaders remain willing to make difficult choices of their own.
This is a tall order, seeing as how some members of Pakistan's intelligence service have long been suspected of being sympathetic to the Islamic extremists that make up Al-Qaida.
Saudi Arabia poses an even greater challenge for the White House because bin Laden is a Saudi and enjoys financial support from some members of the ruling royal family.
"Saudi Arabia has been a problematic ally in combating Islamic extremism," the report says. "At the level of high policy, Saudi Arabia's leaders cooperated with American diplomatic initiatives aimed at the Taliban or Pakistan before 9/11. At the same time, Saudi Arabia's society was a place where Al-Qaida raised money directly from individuals and through charities. It was the society that produced 15 of the 19 hijackers."
More than oil
The commission recommends that the problems in the U.S.-Saudi relationship be confronted openly and that both countries determine if they can build a relationship that political leaders on both sides are prepared to publicly defend. It should be a relationship about more than oil, the commission contends.
"The kingdom is one of the world's most religiously conservative societies, and its identity is closely bound to its religious links, especially its position as the guardian of Islam's two holiest sites," according to the report. "Charitable giving, or zakat, is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is broader and more pervasive than Western ideas of charity -- functioning also as a form of income tax, educational assistance, foreign aid and a source of political influence."
Without sanctuaries and safe havens, terrorist organizations cannot flourish. But seeing as how Al-Qaida cells exist in more than 60 countries, the United States cannot only be concerned about homeland security. It must offer guidance and assistance first and foremost to our allies, who are in danger of being made unstable by enemies of freedom, and then to those nations on the front line of the global war on terrorism.
The commission's report on how to undermine the existence of Al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations is important and demands the full attention of the Bush administration and Congress.