Where We Stand: Our Principles On Fighting the War on Terrorism on Many Fronts

Osama bin Laden is not just a nihilistic terrorist; he is also a radical Islamic revolutionary who seeks to overthrow secular governments throughout the Muslim world and impose his own narrow vision of an Islamic state. Terrorism is a strategy that bin Laden and other Islamic militants have adopted to impose their will on other Muslims, the West, and other non-Muslim countries.

Bin Laden seeks a clash of civilizations that he can exploit to seize control of Islamic civilization, but his struggle will ultimately be more of a clash within Islamic civilization for control over its future. Muslims have a major stake in the outcome of this struggle. The United States should seek allies among moderate Muslims to help isolate Islamic radicals and kill or capture Islamic terrorists.

Al-Qaeda has received substantial financial, logistical, training, and propaganda assistance from a large array of sympathizers.As President Bush stated, “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”

“Ideas have consequences” as Richard Weaver wrote. Bin Ladenism will survive bin Laden. The United States must work with Muslim moderates to combat bin Laden’s radical ideology and the hostile ideology propagated by some Wahhabi and Deobandi madrassas, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Bin Laden and his chief lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are believed to be hiding somewhere in the unruly Pushtun tribal belt in western Pakistan, and most of the arrests of top al-Qaeda leaders since September 11 have been in Pakistan. Washington must work closely with the Pakistani government to root out fugitive al-Qaeda members, who are supported by influential Islamic radical movements in Pakistan. Other important theaters for hunting al-Qaeda operatives and members of affiliated organizations are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Turkey.Wherever possible, the United States should cooperate with the governments of these and other states to apprehend terrorists.

Although al-Qaeda is believed to operate in over 60 countries around the world, these three regions are critical fronts in the struggle against it. Al-Qaeda emerged as an organization during the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan and was based there after the Taliban movement seized power in 1996. The defeat and ouster of the Taliban in 2001 led many al-Qaeda members to flee to neighboring Pakistan, where they have been hidden and assisted by Pakistani sympathizers who seek to build a radical Islamic state in Pakistan. Pakistan is an extremely important front because it is one of the largest, most powerful Muslim countries and already possesses nuclear weapons. The coming to power of an extremist government could lead to the transfer of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to terrorists favored by that regime.

Iraq is a critical front in the war against terrorism because it has become a rallying point, major propaganda issue, staging area, and a potentially fertile recruiting ground for al-Qaeda. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s interim government is an increasingly effective ally in the war on terrorism. If Iraq can be transformed into a stable democracy, it could become an influential model for Middle Eastern development, but this difficult goal is likely to take many years to accomplish. To give democracy a chance to take root, the United States should encourage the interim government to build up Iraqi security services to defeat the insurgents, help to build a civil society that respects the rule of law, encourage the development of inclusive political parties that respect democratic values, and encourage Iraq to adopt a federal system to facilitate power sharing and avert a possible civil war.

Saudi Arabia is an important front in the struggle because Saudis have provided leadership, financing, and ideological indoctrination to al-Qaeda members. Moreover, Saudi Arabia is the strategic storehouse of roughly one-quarter of the world’s proven oil reserves. If the Saudi royal family were overthrown by a regime sympathetic to al-Qaeda, the future economic security of the United States and other oil-importing countries would be put at risk. To broaden support for Saudi moderation, the United States should encourage the government to undertake democratic reforms to broaden political participation and give more Saudis a meaningful stake in the current political system.

Al-Qaeda received important help from several states: Sudan and Afghanistan provided bases and support, while Iraq and Iran were later suspected of providing discreet training and sanctuary to al-Qaeda members or affiliates such as Abu Musab Zarqawi. Iran remains the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, providing funds, training, and other support to groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The United States has imposed economic sanctions on Iran, but the European Union has pursued a “business as usual” approach. Washington should redouble its efforts to persuade its European allies and other countries to impose economic sanctions on Iran and support the efforts of the democratic opposition to establish the rule of law inside Iran. The United States also should lead international efforts to sanction and isolate Syria and North Korea, two states that have acquired weapons of mass destruction and continue to support terrorism.

Moderate Muslims have a vital stake in defeating bin Laden’s revolutionary challenge as he seeks the overthrow of every government in the Muslim world with the possible exception of the radical regime in Sudan. Moreover, if bin Laden or one of his supporters did succeed in seizing power somewhere, Muslim citizens would be forced to submit to a harsh brand of Shari’a (Islamic law) and Taliban-like repression. After initially trying to deflect bin Laden into attacks elsewhere, the Saudi government has finally cracked down on al-Qaeda and its supporters within the kingdom. Pakistan has cracked down on al-Qaeda, but not on the Taliban and some Pakistani Islamic extremist movements. The United States should work with these and other concerned Muslim governments to close down Islamic charities that fund terrorism, reduce drug smuggling and other illicit means that terrorist groups use to raise funds, reform educational institutions to emphasize religious tolerance, and encourage Muslim religious leaders to speak out forcefully to denounce terrorism as “un-Islamic.”

The United States should stress that it supports freedom for Muslims and remind the Muslim world that it has liberated Kuwaiti Muslims, sought to feed Somali Muslims, protected Bosnian Muslims, rescued Kosovo’s Muslims, liberated Afghan Muslims from repression by the Taliban, and liberated Iraqi Muslims from Saddam Hussein, who was responsible for the deaths of more Muslims than any other figure in modern history. The United States should also trumpet its support for democracy and free-market economic reforms to empower Muslims politically and economically and to undercut the seductive appeal of radical Islam. It should take every opportunity to contrast this positive vision for Muslims with the violent program of al- Qaeda and similar organizations that offer only death and destruction.

The U.S. and its allies should make every effort to publicize al-Qaeda’s crimes, particularly those against Muslims; publicize the confessions of al-Qaeda defectors; and expose the efforts of al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and other terrorist groups in smuggling illegal drugs such as opium, heroin, and hashish, to which a huge and growing number of Muslim Pakistanis, Iranians, Arabs, and Turks have become addicted.

To convince foreign Muslim audiences to support America’s vision of freedom and prosperity under the rule of law, the Administration should create a new staff position at the National Security Council to lead a senior interagency group that would coordinate all U.S. government public diplomacy aimed at influencing the war of ideas in the Muslim world. The Administration should also create a privatesector institution, a form of independent, federally funded research and development center, that would be charged with gathering and analyzing the information required by the U.S. government to advance America’s position in the ideological war of ideas.

Al-Qaeda has long sought nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons to inflict mass casualties on Americans. The Administration must work relentlessly to keep such horrific weapons out of the hands of al-Qaeda and other groups by cracking down on the smuggling of weapons and dual-use technologies; conducting sting operations to remove buyers and sellers from circulation; and helping various governments (particularly those in the former Soviet bloc) to bolster security around nuclear, chemical, and biological facilities. The United States also must keep dangerous technologies and weaponry out of the hands of states that might possibly transfer weapons of mass destruction to terrorist surrogates. Iran, by virtue of its strong links to Hezbollah and other terrorist groups, is a major source of concern. Syria also possesses chemical weapons, although its nuclear program is more rudimentary. North Korea, which has sold its missile technology far and wide, is a particular risk for transferring nuclear and other technologies. The Bush Administration’s Proliferation Security Initiative is a good start, but the Administration will need to build on it to develop creative new methods for reducing the risks of transferring WMD technologies.