Creating Terrorism, Part 2

Let's go back to 9/11 - the worst of terrorism. Osama bin Laden told us why. He said the U.S. support for Israel was a crusade or holy war against Islam. Osama made so much trouble in his native Saudi Arabia that he was expelled to Sudan. And making trouble there, he went to Afghanistan to train terrorists. Osama told us again and again of his cause for terrorism. He helped blow up our Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, but we didn't listen.

After we went into Kuwait, he blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, but we didn't listen. He then blew up the U.S.S. Cole, but we didn't listen. Finally, when he blew up the World Trade Towers and Pentagon, we listened. We knew immediately where to go after the culprit. But we dissembled as to his cause of the terrorism, saying that the Muslim world was jealous of our freedoms. And to obscure the cause, we lashed out at the world. President Bush characterized 9/11 as a War on Terror, telling the world you're either "for us or against us."

Terror is not a war but a tactic, a strategy. We don't call World War II the Blitzkrieg War, and the terrorism in other countries, like Indonesia, is for different reasons. Five years ago, I traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan with Senator Ted Stevens, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and Senator John Warner, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Our first stop was Jordan where we had a two hour conference with King Abdullah. As we stood to leave, the King asked Stevens and Warner to get on President Bush to settle the Israel-Palestinian conflict. At our stop in Kuwait, the Emir pleaded the importance of settling the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Again, after a two-hour conference in Pakistan with President Musharraf, as we stood to leave, he urged: "Settle the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and 85 per cent of the terrorism in the world will disappear."

The world knows our support of Israel is the cause of terrorism against the United States. But politicians in Washington can't acknowledge this. To confirm Osama's cause would have AIPAC coming down on your head as being anti-Semitic. But I can state it because I am pro-Semitic, pro-Israel, and have a thirty-eight year voting record to prove it. Washington politicians and the media continue to engage in the charade of a War on Terror.

Making believe that there is a War on Terror, we act like Afghanistan is our enemy. Afghanistan has never been the enemy of the United States. Osama bin Laden and the terrorists that trained there and trained to fly in the United States were from Saudi Arabia. On 9/11, we listed Al Qaeda in forty-five countries. While there is no War on Terror, potential terrorists are everywhere. The alleged terrorist recently arrested for trying to blow up New York has been a citizen of the United States for at least ten years.

We can't just "willy nilly" make war against a country that has terrorists. Afghanistan was our ally in Charlie Wilson's War when we ousted the Russians. We learned then that Afghans didn't like foreigners. Osama bin Laden's case against us is that the United States has a jihad against Islam. Invading Kuwait, invading Iraq, with military bases in Oman and Bahrain, with the U. S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, invading and making war in Afghanistan for eight years, and droning civilians in Pakistan, we prove Obama's case. After eight years, we are creating as much terrorism in Afghanistan as we are eliminating it. And we wonder why we're losing.

President Obama faces another Vietnam. I know. I hear the same concerns, the same frustrations, the same arguments. I was a bitter-ender. Making the motion in the Appropriations Committee for the last $500 million for the war in Vietnam, I argued that we couldn't let all those GIs die in vain. It took me some time to learn that more people are willing to die for a government different than democracy. I have been to Hanoi, visited John McCain's prison. The people are happy. I walked around the city unguarded at night, which I wouldn't dare do in Washington. Today, we have the friendliest of relations with Vietnam.

After eight years, the superpower is losing the war in Afghanistan. General McChrystal says to win we must stop killing civilians, train the people that are beating us, and nation-build by teaching warlords to like democracy and grow wheat instead of poppies. This in a country 90% illiterate, with a corrupt government, where they teach the youngsters in the Madrasah schools that we are the infidel. And in a Muslim country, where more important than freedom and democracy is tribe and religion. McChrystal could be successful and the next year there could be terrorists back in Afghanistan just like they are today in the United States. We've got to get serious about the cause of terrorism against us. We've got to make a more concerted effort for peace in the Mideast.

After ten years in Vietnam, a country of 16 million, 575 thousand GIs weren't enough to Vietnamize Vietnam. In Afghanistan, a country of 31 million, 40 thousand more troops will not be enough to Afghanize Afghanistan. I know the President has said that Afghanistan was a war of necessity. It's tough to acknowledge this mistake. But, if 40 thousand more troops are put there to fight, they are too few. If they are put there to die, they're too many.

P.S. to Axelrod: If he continues the war, he'll look weak. Stop the war. Stop creating terrorism.

Read more commentary by Senator Hollings at www.citizensforacompetitiveamerica.com. Creating Terrorism, Part One can be read here.

Comments

[digdeeper]

I don't agree with everything said but no matter because I do agree with the point made about needing a peaceful solution to the conflict in the middle east. Without it
there will continue to be unrest in many corners of the world not just the US.
The best that can be hoped for in Afghanistan is a tribal council of elders. You cannot impose Western style democracy on the Afghans, or rather you can try and we will be in there for another decade with no resolution.

[CanisLatrans]

While I agree that it is time for some "tough love" moments with Israel, I have to disagree with a lot of what you said.

1st, I think it is naive and simplistic to assume that if we encouraged Israelis to pack their bags and move to Texas, that the Arab world would sit down and sing "kumbaya". Sayyid Qutb wrote his book, "Signposts" in 1954, just a few years after Israel's founding in 1948 and well before the 1967 war that brought the West Bank and Gaza into Israeli orbit-- it was also before America became an ally of Israel. Before the 1970's, the Israeli patron state was actually France.

2nd, You list off all sorts of things that the Jihadis blew up, and we "didn't listen" to what they had to say. I find that problematic-- are we supposed to "listen" to people who attack innocent people? Should we ask ourselves if violent, anti-gover­nment/whit­e supremacists nutcases have been misunderstood because we didn't "listen" to Timothy McVeigh?

3rd, The Wahhabi school of Islamic jurisprudence got started in the late 1800's, as a response to the ill-treatment at the hands of colonialist Europeans. There has long been a call to return to the "roots of Pure Islam"-- hearkening back to a day when Islam was an unstoppable juggernaut.

This return to Islamic purity --and beating up the "western infidels"-- has been a social movement in Islam long before Israel.

[arvay]

Finally, someone with guts.

It's LONG overdue for this discussion to go from blogs to the floor of Congress.

Americans need to know that our national treasure is being wasted, and their kids are being killed and maimed, largely to support our "best friend" in the Mideast.

Of course, opposition to our Israeli support has metastasized into other forms -- it's helped stoke Islamic radicalism that also threatens progress in the Islamic world.

But support for Israel is the root cause, the rotten tooth that needs to be extracted before the patient can recover.

[Macready]

great blog arvay . . . yes finally someone with guts!

the US must change its flawed foreign policy towards Cuba and especially towards israel . . . israel is a rogue state . . . and must be forced back to its pre-war 1967 boundaries . . first follow the Libyans . . . do not bury the Goldstone Report, UN sanctions, trade embargoes, no more hot line to the Pentagon for military equipment and an end to all US funding . . . it has to happen and now . . . our Prez got a gentle kick when he received the Nobel Peace Prize . . now he has to show more deeds especially towards israel there will be no world peace without a peaceful and fair solution for the Palestinian people . . they have suffered far too long . . .

[TheLonelyGod]

Yes! That's a great idea!

Now our enemies see us as immoral, colonialist oppressors who need to be subservient to the ways of Islam.

But if we do that, they will see us as immoral, colonialist oppressors who need to be subservient to the ways of Islam *and* who are cowards who will sell out our friends to save our own skin!

It's the perfect plan.

[lbsaltzman]

I agree. We need more ex-politicans like him and President Carter to speak out. only former politicians are free to do this, because they don't have to worry about their careers being destroyed by AIPAC.

[vascopyjama]

Our lawmakers get a lot of money from lobbyists not to acknowledge this. Plain and simple.

[Kirby]

You bet our lawmakers get a lot of money for doing Israel's bidding, and while you're at it try to find out how and why American Jews can contribute directly or indirectly to Israel or its IDF and write the contribution off their U. S. taxes.

[Kirby]

Jewish owned corporations in the United States may use the same tax provision for gifts to Israel or its IDF - and have a tax write-off also. There have been many provisions made in this slant by a congress tied into Israel by a gone-amok AIPAC and other such organizations. Don't we have the courage to stop this or does the fear of AIPAC's might in the halls of Congress deter them?

[alexa07]

Kirby,
Is there anything our foolish Congress doesn't underwrite about Israel? The American taxpayer is forced to condone all manner of vicious activities by the IDF; all the while our corporate media provides cover by under-reporting or mis-reporting events from the region to present a one-sided view of the occupation, confiscation of Palestinian lands, demolitions & the like. The BDS movement is really the only alternative, as I see even the Obama people are providing cover for not only the occupation, but now also the Israeli nukes.

[trccommission]

"Invading Kuwait, invading Iraq, with military bases in Oman and Bahrain, with the U. S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, invading and making war in Afghanistan for eight years, and droning civilians in Pakistan, we prove Obama's case."

I think you meant to say Osama's case, or perhaps you were being witty.

[RickyJ]

The Senator may put too much emphasis on the US's Israeli policy as a cause of terrorism (Does it also explain Mumbai and Bali?) but I think it is part of our general meddling with the affairs of Muslim nations that causes them to attack the USA. Osama reminded us after 9/11 that he doesn't attack Sweden. Is it really necessary that we do more than simply have our tankers pick up their oil to adequately cover our interests with those nations? Just how much is it prudent for the US to do in order that a small sliver of land, in the Levant, stays under Jewish control? The US foreign policy establishment seems to start with the assumption that the US must actively promote the adoption of US institutions by other countries. Is it conceivable, that in the modern age, that is unnecessary and unwise and we will be safest if we had as little to do with Muslim countries as possible -- just (non-military) trade with them and help out when natural disasters strike?

[sposton]

Could the Senator have spoken his mind as openly while being a sitting Senator? Even now he must emphasize that he is "pro-Semitic, pro-Israel, and have a thirty-eight year voting record to prove it". This begs a question, can anyone who does not have as dedicated pro-Israel background criticize Israeli policies without being anti-Semitic and anti-Israel? ;-)

[alysheba 3]

Nope, and that includes Jews apparently because Goldstone was called anti-Semitic, and a self-hating Jew for his report.

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c40_a16771/News/Israel.html

[Stirner]

Even Professor Norman Finkelstein, whose parents were caught up in the Holocaust, has been called "anti-semitic" by none other than Alan Dershowitz (accused plagiarist of O.J. Simpson fame). Dershowitz managed to pull every rotten string to get Finkelstein removed from teaching at DePaul University. Fearful of itself being termed "anti-semite" the University cravenly allowed the bully Dershowitz to get away with it. Poor Professor Finkelstein had the Chutzpah to question the "Holocaust Industry"!

[lbsaltzman]

And more recently, Foxman from the ADL tried to get a Professor Robinson at UCSB censored for presenting students material critical of Israel. Professor Robinson is also Jewish. The pro-Israeli lobby will destroy careers to keep the truth suppressed.

[alexa07]

Senator Hollings,
Thank you for the thoughtful article; however, I wonder do you mean you continue to be "pro-Israel" after the recent onslaught upon Gaza, or the daily confiscations, demolitions, settler rampages & the like, all carried out with the IDF participating or nearby to enforce control? Some disturbing images are out there, in the alternative & international media.

[mommamia526]

Mr. Hollings has a few good points, but in par. 7 he means Osama, and not Obama. I almost completely agree with him, but the cause is NOT the Israeli-Palestinian *conflict*. That is the excuse for outlaw behavior of the likes of Osama bin Laden. Mr. Bin Laden's family hails from Yemen, not exactly next door to Israel, and Bin Laden is not a Palestinian and may not even be an Arab, for all I know. His second in command is an Egyptian, and not a Palestinian. Another aggressor on the socalled Israeli-Palestinian issue is Iran. Iranians are Persians, and other groups, not Arabs and not Palestinians. Palestinians are segregated together, and/or driven out, wherever they are, except inside Israel proper. Israeli are not against Islam or muslims, nor are they trying to convert. The terrorists' cause is keeping the foreigner, whatever his origins, out of their own territory, yet, they invade freely, and take over, anywhere they please, lately in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but they are also present in Europe, where they were camping out in France illegally. The solution is NOT giving in, making concessions to them, and trying to help them out. That that has the opposite effect is EXACTLY what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has demonstrated over decades. The terrorists's cause is outlaw and rogue behavior and where they murder and blow up buildings, killing innocent civilians, or constantly harass, as out of Gaza, they are common criminals.

[lungfish]

I agree with the Senator in that our failure to encourage a resolution with the Palestinians has become a celebrated cause for Islamic Jihadists (aka Terrorists). In fact, actions like Rice and Bush secretly selling arms to rival factions against Hamas had strengthened their resolve...
It is clear that the Zionist vision has nothing to do with compromise and a review of writings by the various early leaders of Israel, their founders, would bear this out...
The solution lies in a fundamental shift in attitude by Israel and it simply won't happen.. Meanwhile opportuinists in the Arab world will exploit the Palestinian problem for their own benefit as will the Jihadists who are driven by ideology.

The Sen. is correct in that we stand to lose far more than we gain by occupation. We can build schools and educate people and the Taliban will blow them up and abuse folks... it isn't going to get better until something very basic to the equation changes and I don't see that in the works.

[MosheDayanHero]

"Making believe that there is a War on Terror, we act like Afghanistan is our enemy."
Wrong.
Since UN-mandated occupation, about 4,000 community-based schools were built. 9,000 new teachers are being trained (4,000 of them women).
About 80% of Afghans now have access to basic medical care, In 2004 less than 10% did.
Millions of children were vaccinated against polio.
About 500,000 Afghans are now using micro-loan program established by U.S. and allies.

Open your mind, Senator.

[alysheba 3]

The only reason the US is now doing this is to prevent another Vietnam. America is, as usual, trying to "buy" popularity.

[MosheDayanHero]

"After we went into Kuwait, he blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, but we didn't listen.He then blew up the U.S.S. Cole, but we didn't listen.
Finally, when he blew up the World Trade Towers and Pentagon, we listened."

ehh.... so Al Qaeda blew up embassies in Africa, Twin Towers, and did hundreds of attacks in Saudi Arabia all becuase of U.S. support for Israel?
This is not writing, this is typing.

[TheLonelyGod]

(continued)

In fact, if you look at Arab media from the area, you would see their problem is such: They see America not as being too helpful to Israel...they see Israel as being like an extension of America in the Middle East! So if Israel were gone, that would be great. But the eeeevil USA would still be there.

Blaming Israel for all of our troubles will make you popular with the HuffPo crowd, definitely. But I don't think it will make you popular with Al Qaida.

The I-P conflict is just an excuse. Always has been, always will be. And when that excuse is gone, they will move to something else.

[alysheba 3]

Incorrect. Bin Laden talks about a jihad against the US for its treatment of Muslims, and it's support of Israel, in 1997. The interview wasdone by Peter Arnett.

REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, you've declared a jihad against the United States. Can you tell us why? And is the jihad directed against the US government or the United States' troops in Arabia? What about US civilians in Arabia or the people of the United States?

BIN LADIN: We declared jihad against the US government, because the US government is unjust, criminal and tyrannical. It has committed acts that are extremely unjust, hideous and criminal whether directly or through its support of the Israeli occupation of the Prophet's Night Travel Land (Palestine). And we believe the US is directly responsible for those who were killed in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq. The mention of the US reminds us before everything else of those innocent children who were dismembered, their heads and arms cut off in the recent explosion that took place in Qana (in Lebanon). This US government abandoned even humanitarian feelings by these hideous crimes.

http://www.anusha.com/osamaint.htm

[TheLonelyGod]

My quotes below would seem to contradict that.

In the same interview that you cited, he also blamed America's finance industry and our consumption of alcohol. Later, he attacked the US for (among other things) the blockade against Saddam, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Israel's *existence.*

Regardless, I think there is room for both points of view to have validity. Mr. Hollings seems to think that US support for Israel alone caused 9/11. That would not seem to be the case.

[TheLonelyGod]

"The world knows our support of Israel is the cause of terrorism against the United States."

If you are referencing Osama, then I'm going to have to disagree. Osama only started expressing support for the Palestinian cause to destroy Israel *after* the 9/11 attacks happened.

“Osama bin Laden made his explosions and then started talking about the Palestinians. He never talked about them before.”
— Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, dean of Shar'ia and Law at Qatar University was critical, "In their hypocrisy, many of the [Arab] intellectuals linked September 11 with the Palestinian problem — something that completely contradicts seven years of Al-Qaida literature. Al-Qaida never linked anything to Palestine."

Even Yasser Arafat told the Sunday Times of London that bin Laden should stop hiding behind the Palestinian cause. Bin Laden "never helped us, he was working in another completely different area and against our interests,"

TBC

[lbsaltzman]

Excellent post. If all those politicians still in Washington would listen to your views we would have peace in the Middle East.

[CarolinaDem]

Always a hero, even when your views didn't match mine, Senator! I remember well when you told Reagan from the floor of the Senate that the troops in Lebanon were too few, if they were there to fight; and that if they were there just to die, they were too many. So true.