This article has been chosen as a Making Sense of These Times
FIVE STAR PIECE
The author has his lights on. He makes the invaluable point, which we still
haven't gotten, that, "This event is not an isolated instance of violence.
This is not an 'act of war.' It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to
metastasize." What good will our fingers in the dyke do us when the enemy
relentlessly keeps opening more holes? "The perpetrators of the original
attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 were caught and convicted. This did
not stop the attack on Tuesday."
-Suzanne-
September 12, 2001
Understanding Osama bin Laden
William O. Beeman
Providence, Rhode Island – The United States risks a severe
miscalculation in dealing with the destruction of the World Trade Center
and
the attack on the Pentagon on Tuesday.
This event is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not
an "act of war." It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to
metastasize.
The root cause is not terrorist activity, as has been widely
stated. It is the relationship between the United States and the Islamic
world. Until this central cancerous problem is treated, Americans will
never be free from fear.
Merely locating and hunting down a single "guilty party" in this
case will not stop future violence: such an action will not destroy
the organization of terrorist cells already established throughout
the world. Of greater importance, it will do nothing to alleviate the
residual enmity against America.
The perpetrators of the original attack on the World Trade Center
in 1993 were caught and convicted. This did not stop the attack on
Tuesday.
The chief suspect is the Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden, or his
surrogates. He has been mischaracterized as an anti-American
terrorist. He
should rather be thought of as someone who would do anything to protect
Islam.
Bin Laden began his career fighting the Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan in 1979, when he was 22 years old. He has not only resisted
the
Soviets,but also the Serbians in Yugoslavia. His anger was directed
against the United States primarily because of the U.S. presence in the
Gulf
region, more particularly in Saudi Arabia itself – the site
of the most
sacred Islamic religious sites.
According to bin Laden, during the Gulf War, America co-opted the
rulers of Saudi Arabia to establish a military presence in order to kill
Muslims in Iraq. In a religious decree issued in 1998, he gave religious
legitimacy to attacks on Americans in order to stop the United
States from
"occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places." His decree also
extends to Jerusalem, home of the sacred Muslim site the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Bin Laden will not cease his opposition until the United States
leaves the region. Paradoxically, his strategy for convincing the
United States to do so seems drawn from the American foreign policy
playbook.When the United States disapproves of the behavior of
another nation, it
"turns up the heat" on that nation through embargoes, economic sanctions
or
withdrawal of diplomatic representation. In the case of Iraq
following the
Gulf War, America employed military action, resulting in the loss of
civilian life.
The State Department has theorized that if the people of a rogue
nation experience enough suffering, they will overthrow their rulers, or
compel them to adopt more sensible behavior.
The terrorist actions in New York and Washington are a clear and
ironic implementation of this strategy against the United States.
Bin Laden takes no credit for actions emanating from his training
camps in Afghanistan. A true ideologue, he believes that his mission is
sacred, and he wants only to see clear results. For this reason, the structure
of his organization is essentially tribal, or cellular, in modern
political terms. His followers are as fervent and intense in
their belief
as he is. They carry out their actions because they believe in the
rightness of their cause, not because of bin Laden's orders or
approval. Groups are
trained in Afghanistan, and then establish their own centers in
places as
far-flung as Canada, Africa and Europe. Each cell is
technologically sophisticated,
and may have a different set of motivations for attacking the United
States.
Palestinian members of his group see Americans as supporters of Israel in the current conflict between the two nations. In the Palestinian view, Ariel Sharon's ascendancy to leadership of Israel
has triggered a
new era, with U.S. government officials failing to pressure the
Israeli government
to end violence against Palestinians. Palestinian cell members will not
cease their opposition until the United States changes its
relationship with the Israeli state.
Above all, Americans need to remember that the rest of the world
has an absolute right to self-determination that is as defensible as our
own. A despicable act of terror such as that committed in New York and
Washington is a measure of the revulsion that others feel at
U.S. actions
that seemingly limit those rights. If we perpetuate a cycle of hate
and revenge,
this conflict will escalate into a war that our great-grandchildren
will be fighting.
William O. Beeman is a specialist on Middle East culture at Brown
University. He has worked for the past four years in Tajikistan,
where he has
monitored developments in Afghanistan.
http://205.252.23.176/opinion/2001/09/14/1.html
Use your browser's BACK button to return to your previous page.
Visit our other FIVE STAR PIECES.