U.S. must understand terror roots, expert says

U.S. must understand terror roots, expert says

Ex-ambassador critical of Iraq war

Saturday March 27, 2004

By James Varney
Times Picayune
Staff writer

Terrorism will continue to exact a grisly toll on the United States and other Western nations unless more effort is made to understand the roots of the terrorists' rage, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq told a New Orleans audience Friday.

Edward Peck, who also served in Algeria, Morocco and Egypt during his foreign service career, argued that America's actions are largely responsible for the seething rage that pockets of the world nurse against it.

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," Peck said, embracing a controversial definition of the term. He was echoing a statement that garnered considerable publicity in the aftermath of Sept. 11 when it was included in a Reuters news service memo telling staffers not to use the word, "terrorist" in their reports.

The abandonment of traditional diplomacy and the tenets of negotiation have culminated in a disastrous invasion of Iraq, he said.

"I consider it, to put it mildly, a catastrophe with the worst yet to come," he said.

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http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1080381542304000.xml?nola

Iran Revolution and beruit

the greatest blunder ever made by any administration.
or, as people in the beltway said when Bush2 got his PNAC crowd in,
"the crazies are back".
and we are all living with the results.
god help us. and it will get worse.
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

It's so much easier to believe they hate us for our freedoms. It's like grade school. They're just jealous!

I mean, they hate our freedom, right? . . . that's what my pResident says, and I'm stickin' with it! . . .

You owe me a beer. :)

"Among the most prominent causes, Peck said, was the United States' staunch support of Israel. Without a considerable overhaul of that U.S. policy, genuine peace in the region might be impossible, Peck said.

But it's the current situation in Iraq that troubles him most, Peck said. Iraq, he said, was a nation laid waste by years of choking sanctions. Now, he said, an invasion suffused with ignorant hubris, has turned it into an unstable nightmare for years to come.

'We've gone into Iraq by force and we're saying, 'you're going to be democrats' -- with a small, 'd,' " Peck said. "But is democracy the best way to go? We think so, but do they?'"

--Peck's article notes there are two issues...

the first is how to deal with the truly dangerously psychopathic terrorist, as he identifies bin Laden...a guy who can call for a crusade, oops, excuse me, jihad against entire regions of the world.

I do not see how you negotiate with someone like that.

But the second issue is the sort of person who is capable of turning away from terrorism (or whatever you want to call it) as a way to deal with situations, when the situations are made to have diplomatic solutions.

...and there isn't going to be a diplomatic solution without dealing with the Israeli/Palestinian issue in a more evenhanded manner by the United States.

unfortunately, it seems fairly clear that we will face blowback from the Iraqi invasion. We still don't know how that situation will play out...if civil war will be the outcome, if theocracy rules...the "democracy" that Bush wanted to put in place (i.e. Chalabi as a figurehead for "democracy") is the longshot...He looks like Shah-lite so far.

I'm am infuriated with this administration for the way they have mishandled these issues since they took office.