Justice, Not Bullets, Will Beat Al Qaida
By Megan Smith and Bernard Zipprich
Published by the Topeka-Capital Journal on July 27, 2007.
We are losing the fight against terrorism, but it should come as no surprise. Six years and two wars after 9/11, the United States continues to wage war with bullets against an ideology. Once confined to the foothills of Afghanistan, today al Qaida is more popular and widespread than ever. It has been joined by loosely affiliated splinter groups throughout the Middle East, Europe, and the world. In the past few weeks alone, al Qaida affiliates have attempted to detonate car bombs in London, exploded a car bomb in Glasgow, murdered six Spanish tourists in Yemen, and killed scores in Iraq.
If the United States is going to overcome terrorism, it needs to dismantle al Qaida and isolate its ideology. To do this, we must understand its worldview and the basis of its appeal in the Muslim world. In the eyes of al Qaida, from the Crusades to colonization, the history of the Middle East reads as a chronicle of Western sins. In this version of history, the secular West has long subjugated the Muslim people and committed countless atrocities against them. Dominion by the "godless" West, al Qaida alleges, has come with a heavy price -- paid in blood and treasure.
To support this view, its readers point to the creation of Israel and the continued suppression of the Palestinian people. They point to the Middle East's authoritarian regimes, which remain unwilling to provide adequately for their people or clamp down on rampant corruption. And they point to the West's repeated tinkering in the region's internal affairs, such as during the Iran-Iraq War, the numerous Arab-Israeli conflicts, and the current U.S.-led war in Iraq. As twisted and hypocritical as such a set of beliefs is from a group which kills innocent civilians, al Qaida's war against the West comes down to a simple self-perceived concept: justice. This pursuit is something that U.S. policy has failed to confront head on. We need to redefine the argument on our terms and turn the rhetoric of al Qaida into a weapon against it. We can do this by taking steps in the Middle East that will strengthen American security while rendering obsolete the al Qaida worldview.
While being vigilant militarily, the United States must restore the world's faith in the virtue of our nation and right our wrongs. This could be achieved by apologizing to the Iraqi people for Abu Ghraib, closing the Guantanamo detention center, extending to detainees the justice denied them, and restoring our firm opposition to the use of torture. American leaders should publicly pressure countries in the Middle East, especially our allies, to promote political liberty and defend human rights. We must also encourage Muslim religious leaders to label al Qaida what it really is -- a death cult and disease that betrays the peaceful nature of Islam.
Additionally, the United States should make itself a force for peace in the region. At the top of the list is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which must be brought to an equitable resolution. In Iraq, even after withdrawal, the United States must continue to support Baghdad's people and ensure that the country does not become a new safe haven for terrorists.
To enhance its counterterrorism operations, the United States must rely more on diplomatic and economic tools, and must overcome its lack of trained foreign cultural experts by working through local law enforcement agencies throughout the world. It must also employ smaller response teams for targeted strikes, rather than continuing to wage full-theatre wars that inevitably lead to civilian casualties and popular resentment. To overcome terrorism, the United States needs to discredit the views of al Qaida and prove that we are the ones on the side of justice. This is something that cannot be done with bullets alone.
Megan Smith and Bernard Zipprich are researchers at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington, D.C.