Friday, September 08, 2006
History Lessons
Before 9-11, settling the Arab-Israeli conflict could have gone a long way toward resolving the growing divide between America and Muslims around the world. And immediately following the horrific events of that day there was an opportunity to "force" both sides to give a little and move toward a difficult but acceptable arrangement for the establishment of a Palestinian state in return for recognition and acceptance of Israel.
Yes, terrorists, chiefly al Queda, had already begun to focus there attentions on the US before 9-11. And the Arab-Israeli conflict was only one of many grievances they held toward the US. But convincing the Israelis to compromise even just a little, would have forced moderate Muslims to see that although US was willing to use all of its power to go after terrorists, that our leaders were also willing to recognize the "legitimate" concerns of millions of Muslims. Instead, the Bush administration gave a free hand to Sharon to deal with the Palestinians in his own, often harsh and deliberately belligerent way.
With the current leadership in the US it may be too late to prevent the clash of civilizations that the neoconservatives and their rabid following in the "wingnutosphere" seem to so desperately want. The attack on 9-11 provided the neocons the perfect opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of the world just how "tough", the US is. After 9-11, the overwhelming majority of Americans wanted nothing more than to destroy al Queda, and anyone who supported them. Invading Afghanistan was the right thing to do. But for so many who still believe this, the idea that it would be done so incompetently just did not occur. It is now obvious that what would and should have been a success story is far from it five years later. Totally eliminating the Taliban would not have been easy, but the recent resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan would not have taken place without the eagerness of the Bush administration to shift its focus to Iraq. Ignoring, or at least not maintaining adequate resources in the struggle against the Taliban and al Queda was a serious failure of leadership and foresight that will likely haunt the US for years to come.
How could our leadership not have learned from the Soviet failures in Afghanistan? The Taliban and al Queda certainly did. Rather than stay and fight many of them fled as quickly as they could across the border to Pakistan, and the havens they were so familiar with from the struggle against the Soviets. Now that they have had time to recover, "they're back"! They have returned with a vengeance, and they've even had the opportunity to learn new tactics by watching the success of the insurgents in Iraq.
The Clinton administration certainly bears some of the responsibility for the problems confronting the US today. The Lewinsky affair undoubtedly diverted attention away from more important matters. Of course, the Republicans who tried so relentlessly to destroy Clinton, also contributed to the problem. If the Clinton administration had been as aggressive as many now claim they should have been, they would have been accused of trying to divert attention away from the presidents personal problems. Let's not forget, that was exactly what happened after the bombing of Sudan in 1996. If one were to try to cast blame for the mess that Afghanistan became, allowing for the rise of the Taliban and a safe haven for al Queda, we need to look back to the Bush Sr. Administration, and its failure to pay any attention to develops following the Soviet withdrawal, and the ensuing civil war.
More lessons from history that Bush the history major has not learned.
Yes, terrorists, chiefly al Queda, had already begun to focus there attentions on the US before 9-11. And the Arab-Israeli conflict was only one of many grievances they held toward the US. But convincing the Israelis to compromise even just a little, would have forced moderate Muslims to see that although US was willing to use all of its power to go after terrorists, that our leaders were also willing to recognize the "legitimate" concerns of millions of Muslims. Instead, the Bush administration gave a free hand to Sharon to deal with the Palestinians in his own, often harsh and deliberately belligerent way.
With the current leadership in the US it may be too late to prevent the clash of civilizations that the neoconservatives and their rabid following in the "wingnutosphere" seem to so desperately want. The attack on 9-11 provided the neocons the perfect opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of the world just how "tough", the US is. After 9-11, the overwhelming majority of Americans wanted nothing more than to destroy al Queda, and anyone who supported them. Invading Afghanistan was the right thing to do. But for so many who still believe this, the idea that it would be done so incompetently just did not occur. It is now obvious that what would and should have been a success story is far from it five years later. Totally eliminating the Taliban would not have been easy, but the recent resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan would not have taken place without the eagerness of the Bush administration to shift its focus to Iraq. Ignoring, or at least not maintaining adequate resources in the struggle against the Taliban and al Queda was a serious failure of leadership and foresight that will likely haunt the US for years to come.
How could our leadership not have learned from the Soviet failures in Afghanistan? The Taliban and al Queda certainly did. Rather than stay and fight many of them fled as quickly as they could across the border to Pakistan, and the havens they were so familiar with from the struggle against the Soviets. Now that they have had time to recover, "they're back"! They have returned with a vengeance, and they've even had the opportunity to learn new tactics by watching the success of the insurgents in Iraq.
The Clinton administration certainly bears some of the responsibility for the problems confronting the US today. The Lewinsky affair undoubtedly diverted attention away from more important matters. Of course, the Republicans who tried so relentlessly to destroy Clinton, also contributed to the problem. If the Clinton administration had been as aggressive as many now claim they should have been, they would have been accused of trying to divert attention away from the presidents personal problems. Let's not forget, that was exactly what happened after the bombing of Sudan in 1996. If one were to try to cast blame for the mess that Afghanistan became, allowing for the rise of the Taliban and a safe haven for al Queda, we need to look back to the Bush Sr. Administration, and its failure to pay any attention to develops following the Soviet withdrawal, and the ensuing civil war.
More lessons from history that Bush the history major has not learned.
