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On Strategy

By Scott Moore
Posted Friday, Sept. 28, 2001, at 3:42 PM ET

I'm not interested in the political aims and ambitions of Bin Laden and his henchmen. Whatever beefs they have with Western civilization, capitalism, Israel, or anything else are of no concern to me at all. The only thing I care about is wiping him and his type off the planet. On a moral level what the terrorists did on Sept. 11 is equivalent to the mass murder perpetrated by Hitler, Pol Pot, and other evil, horrible human beings and regimes throughout history. The only difference (so far) is the scale of their killing. But I have no doubt whatsoever that they will attack us again on an even more horrifying scale if given the opportunity.

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While I want our military to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible and I see much peril and little upside in attempting to invade and occupy Afghanistan, the reality is that countries that harbor terrorists that attack the U.S. must be made to pay a heavy price for their acquiescence. The Taliban, an illegitimate regime that has protected Bin Laden for many years and allowed him to run his terrorist training camps there, is a legitimate target. We don't need to invade and take over the country in order to harm the Taliban. Just attack their field forces and any hard targets like government buildings. This will send the message that any regime that allows killers to operate on their soil will pay for such sponsorship with their own blood. Further, we should watch for the reformation of terrorist training camps and attack those in the future without warning. Finally, we should hunt down known terror leaders all over the world and kill or capture them. USA Today reports that U.S. Special Forces are operating already in small teams inside Afghanistan looking for Bin Laden. I am sure, given time, they will locate and capture or kill him. This same effort should be extended worldwide to eliminate the leaders and organizers of al-Qaida.

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To extend Robert Wright's metaphor, my approach to weeds growing in the lawn is not to "hit them with a golf club" but to cut off the heads and spray the remaining plants with weed killer while leaving the grass alone. It is obvious in retrospect that the United States' failure to take effective offensive action in the wake of the 1993 WTC bombing, the African Embassy bombings, and the USS Cole attack have only emboldened and provided confidence to our enemies. I'm thankful that President Bush has characterized this conflict as a war on terrorism because in the past we acted like it was a criminal matter. In war you don't wait for someone to attack you, you go on the attack yourself.

I'm also waiting for the other shoe to drop on any Iraqi connection. David Plotz's excellent piece today explains the state of the evidence and theories concerning Iraq's possible involvement in the WTC bombing. I would not be surprised if the administration has more information on an Iraqi connection to this attack than they are currently making public. If we do strike Iraq, we need time to deploy heavy forces to the gulf. Interestingly, such a deployment is happening now despite the conventional wisdom that invading or even extensively bombing Afghanistan is a losing and futile proposition. If the administration has or is developing convincing evidence that Iraq had a direct or indirect hand in the planning and/or execution of the Sept. 11 atrocity they certainly would not be telegraphing that information to Iraq ahead of an attack so Hussein could get ready. I don't assume a priori that Powell's and other administration public statements are entirely transparent and in any event no one has said definitively that Iraq was not involved.

In terms of the roots of radical Islamic discontent, we undoubtedly need a new policy more sophisticated than simply ignoring it. I would favor a regional economic development plan similar to the Marshall plan, but with the stipulation that only countries that promise to support and assist our active war on terror and that commit to implementing democratic reforms will be allowed to participate. So Jordan and perhaps Egypt would receive increased U.S. foreign aid for economic development, and it would be offered to Iran, Syria, Pakistan, and other countries. But the strings attached would be strict--if you harbor or aid terrorists who attack civilian targets, you get no money or help and you may very well have your sovereignty violated by U.S. and/or allied forces that attack the terrorists. Additionally, we need to reach out to moderate Islam and provide its leaders with technology to get their messages out to the masses. Does Voice of America operate in Islamic countries offering alternative sources of news, music and religious and political philosophy? If not, it should and if so funding should be increased. Our fight is not and cannot be with the millions of peaceful, law abiding peoples who live in the Mideast. But if these people are constantly subjected to one-sided radical teachings while living in poverty and subjected to despotism, a percentage will take the plunge all the way to becoming suicide bombers. We can help the moderates offer a different path toward political rights and freedoms.

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