Lessons from 9-11 and beyond…

With the overwhelming number of specials, movies and editorials being written about 9-11, there is very little to be said about the actual events that lead to that day that hasn't already been said. What is becoming abundantly clear, is that the events of 9-11 and the morass that has become Iraq have very little to do with one another, with the exception of the ramifications of choices made by the current leadership regarding the decision to shift focus from the hunt of al Qaeda leaders to "spreading of freedom" in the Middle East.

After exhaustive research, the following timetable seems to be the most obvious and closest to reality after being filtered by both political parties to try and vilify "the other side."

In the 1980s, with complete involvement of the Reagan administration, and then Vice President George Bush the elder, we colluded with Saddam and Afghani "freedom fighters" including Osama bin Laden, to arm, encourage and support their battle against the Soviet Union and Iran.

Following the "victory" which resulted in almost bankrupting the Soviet Union, and the inevitable fall of the Iron Curtain and the dismantling of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev, the radical extremists of the Muslim faith began to turn their attention back to the United States and Israel. During the first gulf war (when Saddam first went from "good guy" to "bad guy") while we were supported by the Saudi and Arab governments for rescuing Kuwait, the radical Islamic factions in the same region became more and more aggressive toward our "occupation" of their holy land, and began plotting terrorist activities.

During this same time period, the Neo-conservative movement that started originally with people like Irving Kristol in the late 1940s and 1950s, gained strength and momentum in the State department during the Reagan and Bush elder years. Their primary goal was to strengthen and cement relations between the United States and Israel, as well as using the United States and their overwhelming military power to create permanent security bases in the region, while overthrowing regimes that posed a threat to Israel (Iraq, Iran, Syria).

During the Clinton administration, due to a variety of diplomatic and military shortsightedness (as well as attention begin diverted while to trying to defend the blow-job heard round the world), Islamic radicals began to attack the United States (World Trade Center 1993), American military targets (embassies, USS Cole, marine bases) throughout the Middle East. Due to a complete breakdown in communication, as well as in-fighting between intelligence agencies, several opportunities to strike bin Laden and other leaders in al Qaeda were lost.

The 9-11 report makes it clear that an almost countless number of "small mistakes" added up to the disaster that came to a head on September 11th, 2001. Between the lack of attention given by both the Clinton and Bush II administrations, ignoring evidence and intelligence that if acted upon could have prevented or greatly diminished the attacks, as well as outright laziness and lack of true leadership from people like CIA leader George Tennet, the outcome is not only sadly disastrous, but also almost inevitable.

Following the attacks on 9-11, the nation and the rest of the world (with the exception of a minimal radical Islamic faction) was unified in the desire and intent to "bring those who attacked the United States on our shores to justice." With a concerted, focused effort of overwhelming force, along with the unilateral support of Middle East and European allies, the capture and ultimate destruction of the leaders, operating bases and training camps could, and should have been executed.

However, by some accounts, as soon as the day following the 9-11 attacks, the chances for that conclusion not only came into question, but for all practical purposes were thrown out the door.

On the day following 9-11, Donald Rumsfeld (one of the signers of a Neo-conservative think-tank letter written to Clinton in 1996 asking for the removal of Saddam Hussein) asked the key question that would shape the strategy of the next 5 years and more, "Can we tie this attack to Saddam, and use it to invade Iraq?" This question, according to several sources, was asked almost immediately upon receiving the news of the 9-11 attacks. Some sources say within hours, others say it was the next day at the first meeting of the joint chiefs. But, it was asked. And when it was asked, a policy that had been in the works for as much as a decade, including its first mention in the "Iraq Liberation Act" of 1998, was set in stone. Iraq was the focus, al Qaeda was the catalyst, and for the next five years, the administration has stretched every boundary of the truth to try and tie the act of 9-11 and our impetuous, poorly planned, under-armed, poorly executed strategy for Iraq into the same equation.

The result of five years of blunders in Iraq (exacerbated by the strategies during the first months of occupation led by Paul Bremer with the tacit approval of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Pearle) and an almost complete disregard for the capture and destruction of al Qaeda's leadership has been an expanded front for global terror, the emboldening of global and "home grown" terror cells, as well as the loss of support from global allies as we wage a war that seemingly has no real goals or exit strategy.

Now, rather than reeling from the loss of their leadership, we find our administration making speeches about "not giving up the search to bring bin Laden to justice" while realizing fully, that our chances for capturing him have all but slipped away with the loss of control over the porous border region between southern Afghanistan and the tribal regions of Pakistan which undoubtedly harbor bin Laden and his fellow leaders along with the resurging power of the Taliban we "defeated" there five years ago. We find ourselves and our allies under the realization that another attack is all but a foregone conclusion.

We find the entire Middle East crackling with the possibilities of expanded regional war, as well as almost immanent civil war in the country we "liberated from an evil, ruthless dictator." We see the leadership of that same country taking steps to form alliances with members of the so-called "Axis of Evil," while their militias carry out ruthless acts of violence against their own country's citizens that have killed almost as many civilians in the past two years, as the "ruthless dictator" from whom we "rescued" them committed in a decade or more.

And all through it, anyone who dares to call this horrendous, myopic, unfocused, un-strategy into question is immediately branded as a "traitor" who is "emboldening the enemy." Anyone who asks for an exit strategy, or ANY strategy for that matter regarding the removal of our troops from the region is branded as someone who "cuts and runs."

Cut and runs from what? Is it cowardice or common sense to finally state that to remain "on the bus" with these madmen at the wheel is in itself insane.

The lessons that we should have learned as Americans from all of this, is that blindly handing over power and control to anyone, without checking and questioning their progress and strategies, especially when the basics of our national security and the future of our children is at stake, is reckless and irresponsible. These people were elected by the people of our country, to serve the people of our country--not the other way around.

We should also learn that allowing ourselves to be dissuaded and distracted by partisan bickering, posturing and rhetoric is not only counterproductive, but dangerous in the loss of actual facts and commons sense during times of emergency. But even more important, we need to learn to remain diligent in our collection of evidence, our continual thirst for knowledge about our leaders, and to stop giving away our power as citizens through apathy and distractions by sports, mindless entertainment, and matters of lesser political importance to our country's future such as gay marriage and flag burning.

However, rather than simply point the finger at both sides (as both sides are certainly culpable), I will offer a couple of legitimate suggestions to our leadership on this 5th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.

First, if you are going to continue to make statements about "finishing the job" in Iraq to anyone who questions your strategy, I would say that it is time that you "finished the job" in Afghanistan. If what you want is a "symbol of freedom in the Middle East" as a successful democracy, then finish the job we half-started in Afghanistan. Use our forces to completely eliminate the Taliban and al Qaeda forces in that country, give no less than 25% of the military budget earmarked for Iraq to REBUILDING and supporting the new government and infrastructure in Afghanistan, and build a REAL success story right there, between two of our greatest threats to peace in the region, Iran and Pakistan (look at a map). Bring the al Qaeda and Taliban leadership to justice, and make it clear in no uncertain terms that any further collusion between Pakistan and rebel forces in Afghanistan will not be tolerated. ELIMINATE the opium poppy trade. Replace it with viable agriculture designed to feed the people of that country, not feed the bank accounts of terrorists worldwide.

Second, set a legitimate timetable regarding Iraq. There is no longer any clear-cut enemy in that country. The fact that many of the newly elected leaders are now colluding with Iran and extremist Islamic factions such as Sadr's militia does not bode well for a valid democracy in the future. Support REAL democracy when possible, but make it very clear that we are not going to prop up another puppet dictatorship that allows the murder of their own people in the name of "national security" and then makes deals with the avowed enemies of our own country.

Finally, rather than continue with the expansionist, nation-building by way of military conflict that has become the trademark of the Neocon movement and the industrial military complex, take drastic steps to reduce the overall military budget and use that same investment in building strategic trading partners and successful nations that can support themselves. This helps destroy the real reason that terrorism is easily fomented in third world nations, namely the desperation created by abject poverty, with no hope of a solution other than armed conflict.

We MUST find alternatives to reliance upon the Middle East oil (less than 16% of our usage comes from the Middle East) by increasing fuels standards for our vehicles, and increasing our own exploration of alternative sources such as oil shale mining and bio-fuels. Not to do so is shortsighted and continues to put money in the pockets of the very people who fund the terrorists.

While it is naïve to believe that we are not entering a new realm of conflict based on culture and religion, that is easily fought by small, radical, suicidal contingents of zealots, it is equally easy to give them far more attention as well as our own systematic and self-made media driven fear, than they deserve. In the big picture, they have inflicted an infinitesimal level of death on the world compared to preventable human afflictions such as hunger, poverty and preventable diseases. The very word "terrorist" is based on the creation of terror. Nobody in al Qaeda, or any other terrorist organization actually believes that they can win a military battle against any of the major nations of the world. And they can only achieve their goal of creating a sense of terror, if we give into the fear that they are going to strike any of us at any time.

By taking common sense measures to increase border security, port security, and information security, we will greatly reduce the risk of further domestic attacks. But even then, the risk of attack is always present from within, and stopping random acts of violence is almost impossible, just ask Tim McVeigh (if he were still alive to ask).

Do we continue to allow our country to be morally and economically bankrupted as we continue down the same endless road to nowhere in the Middle East? Again, only a fool would say that abandoning common sense is a logical solution.

Instead, by giving the Iraqi government the rest of this year to take over the security of their own nation-and then removing our troops to Afghanistan, by sending a clear and aggressive message to the rebels and terrorists in Afghanistan by actually finishing THAT job before we leave, using common sense rather than reacting to fear over the threat of another terrorist strike, and then diminishing our reliance on the blackmail for oil techniques currently being used against us…only then can we hope to make the NEXT five years more productive and safer than the past five years since 9-11.