My father used to remind me that there are limits to human intelligence but no limits to human stupidity. Watching President George Bush on the tarmac at Green Bay I was starkly reminded of this fact. Speaking with what passes for a straight face, Bush first told the world that “this country is safer than it was prior to 9/11” and then went on to add America was at war with “Islamic fascists”.
Perhaps George Bush genuinely believes that the US is safer now than it was five years ago, but the world is definitely going in the other direction.
A child born today in most corners of the world — be it Lebanon, London, Jakarta or Jerusalem — is much more likely to die a violent death at the hands of terrorists than would have been the case had it been born fifty years ago or even five years ago.
You only need to switch on your television set to see the devastation of Bush’s foreign policy. Whether it is Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza or Lebanon, the images show the same violence, carnage, destruction and suffering. Bush’s only achievement — if you can call it an achievement — is to make war his modus operandi. The world is not a safer place since 9/11 and a large part of responsibility for the blood that is being shed falls firmly on the shoulders of Messrs Bush, British Prime Minister Blair and his Israeli counterpart Olmert.
Thursday’s events in London were both reassuring and frightening. It is reassuring to know that the intelligence services — and please note that it was British and Pakistani intelligence, not the CIA — were able to thwart an attack before it took place.
It shows that the way to fight the existent threat of terrorism is through painstaking surveillance, coordination between police and intelligence services at both the national and international level and the groundwork of building up reliable and accurate intelligence.
It is not through invading and bombing foreign states. It is frightening to see that the threat of terrorism is growing and getting more sophisticated. The little we know about the would-be bombers suggests they were ambitious, organized and homegrown. Their determination to kill innocent civilians in the most spectacular way possible shows yet again that a segment of the population is being radicalized and that terrorist groups are being able to capitalize on the failure of Western policy in the Middle East to gain recruits, a trend that can only become stronger if current policies continue.
It is also frightening to know that no matter what security measures we take, the terrorists will always find the means to kill innocents. The hard truth is that we cannot stop terrorist attacks from taking place. The best we can do is create pockets of safety. Yes, it is possible with draconian measures which destroy the very freedom we so love, to make planes for instance relatively safe from terrorist attacks, but all this does is move the theater of terrorist operations elsewhere. If the terrorists cannot explode their bombs on the planes, what is to stop them blowing themselves up in congested airport terminals queuing for check-in or on the trains, buses, and motorways that take us to the airport? If their target is anywhere people congregate in numbers, then it is impossible to stop them from finding somewhere they can bomb.
And as for Bush’s comment that America is at war with “Islamic fascists”, how can the president of the world’s most powerful nation be so irresponsible in his choice of words? Leaving aside the fact that it is a contradiction in terms since Islam and fascism are incompatible, it is a dangerous association to create in people’s minds. It is hard enough to counter the prevalent perception among many that terrorism and Islam go hand in hand without adding a powerful and emotive term such as fascism to the equation.
As both the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations have pointed out, Bush’s use of this term is both counterproductive and ill advised since it only serves to create an association between the religion of Islam and the evil of fascism.
When will politicians learn to eliminate any term with Muslim or Islam as its base when describing terrorists? Al-Qaeda and all its imitators are terrorist organizations whose aim is to hijack Islam for their violent ends. They are not Islamic terrorists but terrorists who happen to have been born Muslim and who use a distorted interpretation of Islam to attract support. Every time we describe them as “Islamist” or any such nonsensical term we are playing into their hands because we are reaffirming their vision of themselves and adding to their self-declared status. They are not freedom fighters or martyrs, nor noble or heroic. Even if we agree with some of the underlying rhetoric or identify with the grievances that push them to their actions, it does not purify or justify the taking of innocent lives.
They are murderers no more, no less. Bush’s “war on terror” is doomed to fail just as his protégés the Israelis are bound to fail in their war on Hezbollah because every bomb that is dropped strengthens support for the groups they are aiming to destroy.
And just as Israel’s actions are leading people with no affinity with Hezbollah who only a month ago would never have dreamt of supporting the Lebanese group to unite behind Hezbollah in their war with Israel, so the US will find that unless it undertakes a swift change in policy, more and more people will find themselves drawn to terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda.
Instead of winning his “war on terror” Bush will find that he has given the terrorists the legitimacy they desperately seek and the support they lack. After all, there are no limits to human stupidity.
