------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 11:50:05 -0400
To: words@xxxxxxx
From: Lee Daniel Quinn <words@xxxxxxx>
Subject: LOGICAL THOUGHTS ON A TERRIBLE SITUATION
LOGICAL THOUGHTS ON A TERRIBLE SITUATION
I thought you might be interested in this email I got from another
list. I think it allows us to view these times with rational point
of view.
----- Original Message -----
From: Terri Mandell
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 3:34 PM
Subject: Terrorism
The following comments just came to me from a friend, who received it from
one of his friends who spent his entire career at the State Department as
the Associate Director for Counter-Terrorism & Emergency Planning. He
expresses his thoughts brilliantly, and gives some real insight into what
terrorism is about. If you read nothing else during this time of disaster in
America, read this.
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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 5:56 PM
Subject: Terrorism
As some of you are already aware, I was once the Associate Director for
Counter-Terrorism & Emergency Planning at the State Department and have
done some private consulting work in that field since my retirement.
Several of you have asked me for an opinion on today's events. For
whatever it may be worth, here's my two cents.
What happened today was not specifically a result of our policy towards
Israel and/or the Palestinians, although that policy certainly is a
component part of the hatred directed against us by the fundamentalist
Islamic world. From their perspective, we are, as the Iranians call us
"the Great Satan" because our society and our culture is seen as
seducing their young people away from what they believe to be proper and
appropriate submission to Allah. It is not coincidental that one of the
first major acts of terrorism against the Shah in Teheran was the
bombing of a crowded movie theater playing what fundamentalists
considered to be scandalous, idolatrous films. American television,
film, books, music and pop culture is the predominant force around the
world and the most conservative elements of Islam fear and hate it. In
places like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, simple possession of an
entertainment video tape is a serious crime.
It is critical to recognize that our opponents have a totally different
cultural approach to the world and a worldview that is so different from
ours as to make them seem as if they are from another planet. We must
not make the mistake of trying to deal with them as if they would or
even could respond as we would under the same or similar circumstances.
They can't and won't. During the Second World War we saw critical
differences between the Germans and the Japanese. Despite the
bestiality the Germans were capable of, they remained western in outlook
and could and did accept defeat. The Japanese - equally bestial - were
prepared to die to the last man, woman and child and could conceive of
no greater glory than dying for the emperor. Our attempts in early 1945
to deal with the Japanese as if they were rational (by our standards),
was doomed to failure because they simply could not hear what we were
saying and, regrettably, we had the same problem in hearing them. In
dealing with Islamic nations, we will have to learn a new language, if
we are to be effective in reaching a reasonable accommodation.
The rub is that reasonable accommodation is only possible in a culture
where compromise is an honorable means to an end. Where one side takes
its instructions directly from God, compromise may never be possible.
There have been sufficient number of holy wars fought in the West to
remind us that true believers are frightening people. In the past few
days, we all saw the incredible images of hatred on Protestant faces
directed against Catholic schoolchildren in Belfast. Scenes eerily
reminiscent of Alabama and Mississippi in the 1960's. The genocidal
wars of the Balkans were fought, as well, along religious lines. Next
to nationalism, religion is probably the most destructive force ever
created by man. I say created by man because there are so many
competing groups, each convince that it and it alone is the authentic
voice of God and that all other are doomed. Once you are convinced that
your enemy is also the enemy of God and that God has forsaken him then
all things are possible and no act too cruel.
In the short term, we will have to live with significantly more
day-to-day inconveniences. We will have to be serious about our airport
security and that of major government and civilian facilities. This
will cost money and will not happen overnight. We must stop worrying
about the "rogue" missile from North Korea which does not even exist and
worry more about the car bomb which does. This battle over threat is
not new. Almost twenty years ago, when I first got into this business,
there was group which worried about and continues to worry about
"weapons of mass destruction". It would be the height of folly not to
worry about these things but even greater folly to place this worry at
the top of our list. The number one weapon of terrorists world wide is
the car bomb. From Beirut to Oklahoma and all stops in-between, more
people have been killed by car bombs than all other terrorist weapons.
They are easy to make, materials are readily available and they work.
Yesterday's attacks were made by airborne car bombs.
The two realistic methods of defense are first of all, good intelligence
and secondly good contingency planning. In 1997, I wrote the counter
and anti-terrorist security plan for the New Seoul International
Airport. I had a lot of help from experts in many fields to assure, to
the degree possible that we covered all the bases. Nevertheless, unless
the plan is regularly exercised and updated, it is about as useful as a
doorstop. Why has no El Al aircraft ever been hijacked or bombed?
because the Israelis take security seriously and do not employ minimum
wage people to monitor x-ray scanners. Because they take the threat
seriously, they employ some of their best people and willingly spend the
money to keep their people alert and on guard. We must do the same.
For any of you who may have served in the armed forces, you will
remember standing sentry duty. The first time out, you are incredibly
alert, all nerve ends straining to hear the faintest sound, see the
slightest shadow. As the days go by and nothing happens, you begin to
relax. By the end of a few weeks, they could drive dump trucks past you
without your notice. Add to this monotony a minimum wage and little
education, you get four hijackings in one day.
A final point. What happened today was planned months ago, possibly as
much as a year or more. Terrorists do not suddenly wake up one morning,
decide to steal four airplanes and with exquisite precision crash into
three major buildings. It took a lot of time, a lot of reconnaissance
and a lot of planning. It is during this stage that they are the most
vulnerable. After the fact reports from most terrorist incidents are
replete with examples of people noticing other people shriveling* [sic]
the site but failing to think anything about it or to report it to anyone.
I am sure that we will see the same thing when this investigation is
completed. Good security starts with control of your perimeter and
knowledge of who is there and who shouldn't be.
Meanwhile, life will go back to normal and, until the next possibly
avoidable tragedy, we will revert to our old sloppy habits.
_________________
* perhaps "surveying." LDQ
_____________________________________________________
I think you might like to look at the first chapter
of Quinn's Devious Dictionary. The book contains
over 5,000 wise and witty definitions. Go to:
http://www.iop.com/~words/
GrampsQ
______________________________________________________
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------------------------------------- No spam, please
Tom A. Trottier (after 2001 Oct 14)
415-400 Slater St. 758 Albert St,
Ottawa ON Canada Ottawa ON Canada
K1R 7S7 K1R 7V8
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-- Questions answered, Answers questioned --
http://abacurial.com <Tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
+1 613 291-1168 fax:594-5412 ICQ:57647974
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