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Sunday, Jul. 12, 2009

U.S. must change ways to fight terror

By Mark Mansperger, In Focus

Doesn't it seem logical that part of our war against terror should include understanding why people would commit such abominable crimes?

When the 9/11 attack occurred, we were told by our leadership that the terrorists' motivation was their hatred of us. This told us little.

An act such as 9/11 does not occur in a vacuum. There are, in fact, numerous reasons why the people of the Middle East harbor resentment toward the United States: We preach democracy, yet cozy up with an oppressive monarchy in oil-rich Saudi Arabia. We lend unwavering support to Israel, in spite of their land usurpation and the bleak conditions they help impose on their Palestinian neighbors.

Many Muslims also see Western culture as being secular, decadent, materialistic and filled with pornography. More recently, our invasion of Iraq turned millions of people around the world against us.

Why did we invade Iraq? Many Americans might find it shocking to know that the former Bush administration Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, reported that during his first National Security Council meeting, nearly eight months prior to 9/11, President Bush stated he wanted to change the regime in Iraq and instructed the council to determine how to do so.

Discussions even included dividing up Iraq's oil wealth. Much of the world is, ironically, more aware of such instances than are we and see them as part of an American attempt to exploit Muslim countries.

Soon after 9/11, we started sending detainees to Guantanamo Bay. It's important to understand that the people brought to Gitmo were not first tried and then imprisoned, but instead sent there without trial. Some of those people were not even suspected of terrorism but instead were normal enemy combatants.

Of the approximately 780 people brought to Gitmo, about 230 remain, with a high percentage of the rest being released somewhere along the way because their crimes were trivial or because of a lack of evidence.

Some were terrorists, some were not, and some have now become terrorists as a result of their awful experience at Gitmo. For us to discard legal traditions going back to the Magna Carta, Roman Codex, and the Code of Hammurabi, simply because of terrorism, is an affront to our Western Civilization.

Among other personnel to come forward, Charles Burney, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist at Gitmo, informed Army investigators in 2006 that orders originating from senior members of the Bush administration directed investigators to use increasing pressure on prisoners to establish links between Iraq and al-Qaida. By most international standards, at both Gitmo and black site prisons farther overseas, "pressure" sometimes included acts of torture.

Whether emanating from a Republican or Democratic administration, I find it reprehensible to imprison and abuse people without so much as a fair trial. Already several tortured people, including a Canadian citizen, have turned out to be innocent.

Moreover, numerous experts in our intelligence community have testified that black site prisons, Gitmo, waterboarding and the like serve primarily as motivation and recruitment tools for terrorists.

By violating the Geneva Convention and other international standards of conduct, we paint a picture of ourselves as being the "bad guys." This does not serve us well, neither externally nor internally. For if we allow terrorism to frighten us into disregarding our own Constitution and betraying our core values, then the terrorists have won.

Without changing our culture, there are numerous ways in which we can improve relations with the Muslim world. Our credibility would vastly improve by demonstrating we consider Muslim lives and rights to be as important as those of others.

While still being generally supportive of our Israeli ally, we need to use our leverage to finally help them create an equitable two-state solution with Palestinians. This would make us heroes to millions around the world and undermine terroristic support.

In general, a more consistent, humane and even-handed approach in the Middle East will bring us far more benefit and security than anything else we can do.

* Mark Mansperger is an assistant professor of anthropology and world civilizations at Washington State University Tri-Cities. His research includes cultural ecology, development and international economics.

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