WCJ Comments on The National Security Strategy of the United States of America (17 September 2002)

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iii. Strengthen Alliances to Defeat Global Terrorism and Work to Prevent Attacks Against Us and Our Friends

“Just three days removed from these events, Americans do not yet have the distance of history. But our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil. War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. The conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.”

President Bush – Washington, D.C. (The National Cathedral) – September 14, 2001

WCJ Comments The National Security Strategy of the United States of America Report – 17 September 2002
No.The NSS ReportComment
1The United States of America is fighting a war against terrorists of global reach. The enemy is not a single political regime or person or religion or ideology. The enemy is terrorism — premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against innocents.It is good that the American Administration understand that terrorism is not a person, group of people, religion or ideology. It is disastrous for the United States and for Mankind that the American Administration failed to draw a valid logical conclusion from that understanding.

It is possible to fight a war against a group of people by killing or capturing them or forcing them to submit to the will of the conqueror under threat of use of force. It is possible to discredit an ideology or a false religion by exposing its false assumptions and false logic. But terrorism is a phenomenon of nature, and it can only be eliminated by removing its causes.

It is possible to fight a war against a group of terrorists, it is impossible to fight a war against the phenomenon of terrorism.

It is not helpful to personify terrorism by proclaiming it an “enemy”, because it suggests that terrorism can be fought and killed. This is impossible. Terrorism, as a phenomenon, can be eliminated only by creation of a workable legal system which will be capable of redressing injustices committed by governments by peaceful means.

This is similar to what happened in countries with developed civil justice systems, in which disputes between private individuals are resolved peacefully in courts of law, rather than by the disputing parties resorting to violence.
2aIn many regions, legitimate grievances prevent the emergence of a lasting peace.If the United States recognizes that the grievances are legitimate, and that these legitimate grievance prevent the emergence of a lasting peace, then why these legitimate grievances are not redressed?
bSuch grievances deserve to be, and must be, addressed within a political process.What is this “political process”? And why this “political process” has failed to resolve the legitimate grievances of the Palestinians for the past 50 years, and of the Chechens for the past 500 years?
cBut no cause justifies terror.Terrorism is an act of violence. The only difference between terrorism and war is that war is violence by established governments, while terrorism is violence by non-government groups.

If a war can be justified by self‐defence or enforcement of justice, so can be terrorism. And either of them can be justified only when no other means of self‐defence, or enforcement of justice are available.

It is a known fact that governments are capable of committing crimes. Even politicians will agree with this statement as long as it is not applicable to themselves — others might be criminals, they can never be. But “they” and “us” are not objective descriptions, they depend on who is the speaker.They always call us “they”, and themselves “us”.

To condemn terrorism and to justify wars is to say that national governments have right to defend themselves and to attack others, but non-governments have no right to defend themselves against national governments — which is dishonesty and hypocrisy.

Creation of a workable system of supra‐national justice and of a supra‐national police will make both wars and terrorism unjustifiable, because the supra‐national police will provide means of prevention of aggression and protection from it, while supra‐national justice will provide means of resolutions of disputes involving governments and of enforcement of justice.

In the absence of such supra‐national institutions wars and terrorism will remain the only means of defence against aggression by governments.
dThe United States will make no concessions to terrorist demands and strike no deals with them.It is wrong to make any concessions to any demands, if such demands are unfounded. This is true not only of demands by terrorists, but of demands by any pressure groups, protests, demonstrations, etc.

But, if demands are legitimate, then they must be satisfied, not as a concession, but as an act of justice.

To return a stolen property to its rightful owner is not a concession, it is an act of justice. And it is an act of justice even if the owner is a terrorist. If the owner who resorted to terrorism could recover his property by other mean than terrorism, then by resorting to terrorism he had committed a crime, for which he has to be punished. But the stolen property is still his, not the thief's.

But if there are no other means of recovering a stolen property, as in some lawless country, then use of violence to recover one's property is justified.

Terrorism exists, because there is no workable legal system to redress injustice committed by governments.
eWe make no distinction between terrorists and those who knowingly harbor or provide aid to them.Due to the traumatic experiences of the 9/11, the American Administration have failed to understand the phenomenon of terrorism.

It is possible for terrorists to have a just cause. In such cases countries sympathetic to the terrorist cause could provide shelter to such terrorists.

As long as the world order is based on “balance of power”, “friends” and “alliances”, it is just as legitimate for states to harbour terrorists, as it is for states to form “alliances” with “friends”.

Establishment of a workable system of supra‐national justice will eliminate the reasons for the existence of alliances between countries and between countries and terrorist groups.

Bombing of countries harboring terrorists and “regime changes” will not eliminate terrorism and support of it by those who sympathize with the cause of a particular terrorist movement or group.

Bombing of countries harboring terrorists and “regime changes” is terrorism by national governments, and instead of eliminating terrorism by non-government groups it increases motivation for such terrorism.
3The struggle against global terrorism is different from any other war in our history. It will be fought on many fronts against a particularly elusive enemy over an extended period of time. Progress will come through the persistent accumulation of successes — some seen, some unseen.Global terrorism is a phenomenon, not an enemy, that can be physically destroyed.

Destroying one or more individual terrorists will not eliminate global terrorism.

Eliminating the cause of terrorism by establishing a workable system of supra‐national justice will make global terrorism a thing of the past, in the same way as creation of national justice systems has made duels (a pistol shoot‐out, or a sword fight, between the disputing parties) a thing of the past.
4aToday our enemies have seen the results of what civilized nations can, and will, do against regimes that harbor, support, and use terrorism to achieve their political goals.Civilization is a constant struggle against human nature. It is still a long way to go before Mankind becomes truly civilized.

The reference to “regimes” in this paragraph is probably to the Taliban government of Afghanistan, who are considered not civilized by the American Administration. A British lady journalist, who was arrested by the Taliban and later released, said that she was treated with respect. By contrast another British lady journalist, who came to Kabul after the Taliban left, said that she was nearly raped by the troops of the Northern Alliance — who are considered “civilized”, because they are “friends”.

And are alcoholism, drug addiction, sexual promiscuity and homosexuality, which are part of daily life in the West, hall marks of civilization? All these “hall marks of civilization ”did not exist in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Is this why the Taliban are considered “uncivilized”?

It would have been also useful to state clearly and precisely what the goals of those “uncivilized nations” are.

The goal of the Palestinian terrorists is to redress the legitimate grievances of the Palestinians. The American Administration acknowledges the legitimacy of these goals in theory, but refuses to redress these grievances in practice.

Resolution of the “Middle East Conflict” on the basis of justice would have put an end to Palestinian terrorism, by removing the causes for its existence. But the American Administration instead of helping actively to resolve the Middle East Conflict are in fact supporting the Israeli war against the Palestinians under the guise of “war on terror”.
bAfghanistan has been liberated; …The Taliban government came to power in order to stop the looting and raping that prevailed in Afghanistan and they succeeded in that task. After they were removed by the American bombings of the Afghan cities, looting and raping has returned to Afghanistan. Is this the meaning of the word “liberated”?
c… coalition forces continue to hunt down the Taliban …The only “crime” committed by the Taliban for which they have been attacked and continue to be “hunted down” is that they requested the American Administration to provide evidence that Osama bin Laden was behind the events of the 9/11.

Later Tony Blair came up with further justifications for the Afghan War, but all these justifications were either false, or inadequate.
d… coalition forces continue to hunt down the … al-Qaida.The majority of the al‐Qaida fighters in Afghanistan, were Chechen and Uygur fighters, Arab volunteers, and volunteers from other Asian Muslim areas. Many of them came still to fight the Russians (with American encouragement and support).

They had neither knowledge nor any connections with the events of the 9/11.

Had the American Administration reacted in to the events of the 9/11 in a rational way, viewing them in the general context of the global world order, there would have been no need for a war against the Taliban, and the issue of al‐Qaida would have been resolved by removing the reasons for its existence.

But the American Administration chose to proclaim each and every Talib and al‐Qaida sympathizer a “Foe of Civilization” who has to be hunted down and either killed or imprisoned. Is such approach likely to achieve peace or eliminate Global Terrorism?
eBut it is not only this battlefield on which we will engage terrorists. Thousands of trained terrorists remain at large with cells in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and across Asia.The issue of al‐Qaida could have been resolved by removing the reasons for its existence. But the American Administration turned it into an endless war.
5Our priority will be first to disrupt and destroy terrorist organizations of global reach and attack their leadership; command, control, and communications; material support; and finances. This will have a disabling effect upon the terrorists' ability to plan and operate.These measures will not eliminate terrorism. They will only change the ways terrorists operate.
6We will continue to encourage our regional partners to take up a coordinated effort that isolates the terrorists. Once the regional campaign localizes the threat to a particular state, we will help ensure the state has the military, law enforcement, political, and financial tools necessary to finish the task.These measures will not eliminate terrorism. They will only change the ways terrorists operate.
7The United States will continue to work with our allies to disrupt the financing of terrorism. We will identify and block the sources of funding for terrorism, freeze the assets of terrorists and those who support them, deny terrorists access to the international financial system, protect legitimate charities from being abused by terrorists, and prevent the movement of terrorists' assets through alternative financial networks.These measures will not eliminate terrorism. They will only change the ways terrorists operate.
8However, this campaign need not be sequential to be effective, the cumulative effect across all regions will help achieve the results we seek.These measures will not eliminate terrorism. They will only change the ways terrorists operate.
9We will disrupt and destroy terrorist organizations by:
  • direct and continuous action using all the elements of national and international power. Our immediate focus will be those terrorist organizations of global reach and any terrorist or state sponsor of terrorism which attempts to gain or use weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or their precursors;

  • defending the United States, the American people, and our interests at home and abroad by identifying and destroying the threat before it reaches our borders. While the United States will constantly strive to enlist the support of the international community, we will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self‐defense by acting preemptively against such terrorists, to prevent them from doing harm against our people and our country; and

  • denying further sponsorship, support, and sanctuary to terrorists by convincing or compelling states to accept their sovereign responsibilities.
These measures will not eliminate terrorism. They will only change the ways terrorists operate.
10aWe will also wage a war of ideas to win the battle against international terrorism. This includes: The 20th century could be called the Age of Propaganda — or the “War of Ideas”. Political governments were heavily investing into development and promotion of “ideologies” mostly various types of Socialism. This propaganda took various forms from presenting in the media distorted or fabricated facts to present themselves in a favorable light while vilifying their opponents, to dissemination of rumors to create panic among the population or armies during wars (“black” propaganda).

After the collapse of Communism propaganda has not disappeared, but continued to be used by politicians, although sometimes it appeared under different names, like “spin” or “hasbara”. “Spin” is the propaganda techniques developed by New Labour in Britain. “Hasbara” is a Hebrew word meaning “explanation”, a set of propaganda techniques used by the Likud Zionists to justify their ideas of Greater Israel before the American public. The American Government also used black propaganda during their war in Afghanistan. Also the American increased their broadcasting to the Arab countries (Radio “Sawa”) aimed at “westernizing1” the Arab youth.

But honesty is the best policy, and in the end all propagandists and spin doctors only discredit themselves.

The propaganda of Goebbels has not saved Hitler from defeat. Tony Blair lost credibility as a result of his spin. And while Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in highjacking the “war on terror” hysteria in America to his expansionist war against the Palestinians, more and more people in America and around the world see that the Israeli war is nothing but genocide of the Palestinian people.
b
  • using the full influence of the United States, and working closely with allies and friends, to make clear that all acts of terrorism are illegitimate so that terrorism will be viewed in the same light as slavery, piracy, or genocide: behavior that no respectable government can condone or support and all must oppose;
The only difference between wars and terrorism is that wars are waged by governments, terrorism is waged by people. Both are violence, but their morality or immorality depends on their purpose and the circumstances under which they are waged.

Is the purpose self‐defence, or an expansionist aggression?

Are there any not violent options of self‐defence or not?

It is the answers to these questions that determine the morality or immorality of violence. No propaganda can alter that.

Once, however, there appear non‐political, impartial mechanisms for resolution of international disputes, then wars and terrorism will become not justifiable.

The American Government is supporting the Russian genocide in Chechnya and the Israeli genocide in Palestine. Are they a “respectable” government?
c
  • supporting moderate and modern government, especially in the Muslim world, to ensure that the conditions and ideologies that promote terrorism do not find fertile ground in any nation;
The words “modern” and “moderate” have been part of the “political” lexicon for some time to express nothing else, but a degree of approval by the speaker.

For example homosexuality and sexual promiscuity are often promoted by the Western political establishment as “modern”, and therefore “socially acceptable”. But sodomy and sex orgies existed still in Ancient Babylon some 4000 years ago.

These patterns of behavior are not acceptable in any Abrahamic religion — Judaism, Christianity or Islam, and they are not acceptable in some Muslim countries. Is this the test of “modernity”?

But acceptance of these “modern” patterns of behavior invariably results in spread of AIDS and of other sexually transmitted diseases. Do the American Government intend to spread these patterns of behavior in Muslim countries in order to “modernize” them?

There is no ideology in the world that promotes terrorism for its own sake. Acts of terrorism are acts of hostility, enmity and violence, similar to acts of war. And like wars, terrorism is justified by some grievances or political objectives. The political objectives are usually justified by some ideology.

Because of involvement of Muslims in the events of the 9/11, there have been attempts to promote the idea that Islam encourages terrorism. This idea was especially actively spread by Zionists and by governments of countries involved in conflicts with Muslim minorities (Russia, India, etc.).

The Qur'an indeed says that those who die for a noble cause are heroes and deserve to be honored.But the same is said in every religion and every Government, including the American Government, has honored those who died for a favored by them cause.

The conditions and ideologies that provide fertile ground for terrorism are the doctrines of “super-powers”, “balance of power” and any form of “politics”. All these ideologies are based on the principle “might is right ”— be it military might or the might of the ballot box. It is the ability of those in power to inflict injustices on others and inability to redress these injustices by peaceful means that give rise to terrorism.

The only cure against terrorism is justice — the principle of unconditional equality under the law.
d
  • diminishing the underlying conditions that spawn terrorism by enlisting the international community to focus its efforts and resources on areas most at risk; and
The efforts of the international community should be focused on eradication of politics from the national government and at the international level — this is the only way to eradicate terrorism.
e
  • using effective public diplomacy to promote the free flow of information and ideas to kindle the hopes and aspirations of freedom of those in societies ruled by the sponsors of global terrorism.
In a world order based on balance of power governments and especially the super-powers indulge in various forms of hostile activities towards other states. These hostile activities are espionage, “regime changes”, acts of sabotage, hostile propaganda, support of terrorist groups, whenever it suits their political objectives, etc.

The United States has been one of the main players in that game. But there is no country in the world that sponsors “global terrorism” as such.

“Global terrorism” is a general phenomenon, which can be only eliminated by removing its cause.

Governments only support specific terrorist groups, or individuals, not “Global Terrorism”.
11While we recognize that our best defense is a good offense, we are also strengthening America's homeland security to protect against and deter attack.The motto “our best defence is a good offense” is a recipe for disaster. It means that the United States is going to attack countries, whenever the US government will think that some country is a potential danger to them.

And what if the US government thinking is wrong?

Or are they infallible?

We have already seen this theory at work in Afghanistan, where wedding parties in Afghan villages were subjected to aerial bombardment, because the US military mistook traditional Afghan rifle shooting in the air at wedding parties for “enemy fire”.
12This Administration has proposed the largest government reorganization since the Truman Administration created the National Security Council and the Department of Defense. Centered on a new Department of Homeland Security and including a new unified military command and a fundamental reordering of the FBI, our comprehensive plan to secure the homeland encompasses every level of government and the cooperation of the public and the private sector.All these measures are a drop in the ocean compared with total security that existed in the Soviet Union. But the total security had failed to protect the Communists from collapse — it was the cause of their collapse. They strangled themselves with their own noose.
13This strategy will turn adversity into opportunity. For example, emergency management systems will be better able to cope not just with terrorism but with all hazards. Our medical system will be strengthened to manage not just bioterror, but all infectious diseases and mass‐casualty dangers. Our border controls will not just stop terrorists, but improve the efficient movement of legitimate traffic.It is true that some of these services could have some other uses, and they might prevent some acts of terrorism, but they will not prevent terrorism 100%, and one single case that slips through the net can do more damage than all the cases caught in the net. Just like the 9/11.
14While our focus is protecting America, we know that to defeat terrorism in today's globalized world we need support from our allies and friends. Wherever possible, the United States will rely on regional organizations and state powers to meet their obligations to fight terrorism. Where governments find the fight against terrorism beyond their capacities, we will match their willpower and their resources with whatever help we and our allies can provide.Remove the causes of terrorism, and all this will become unnecessary.
15As we pursue the terrorists in Afghanistan, we will continue to work with international organizations such as the United Nations, as well as non‐governmental organizations, and other countries to provide the humanitarian, political, economic, and security assistance necessary to rebuild Afghanistan so that it will never again abuse its people, threaten its neighbors, and provide a haven for terrorists.The characterization of Afghanistan in this passage is inaccurate, exaggerated, and is either an attempt to justify the Afghan war, or is the result of believing one's own propaganda — in either case the US Administration are deceiving themselves.

The American war in Afghanistan made the state of that country worse that it was under the Taliban.

Yes, now Afghanistan has to be rebuilt. How successfully this will be done is for the future to tell.
16aIn the war against global terrorism, we will never forget that we are ultimately fighting for our democratic values and way of life.It is common for people to believe that their “values” and “way of life” are the best, and that everybody else should accept these “value” and “way of life”, if necessary by force.

And this is what leads to wars and terrorism.

It is the attempt to impose alien values and way of life in Iran, that resulted in the Iranian Revolution of Imam Khoumeini. And the Russians' attempts to impose their values and way of life in Afghanistan lead to their defeat.

The present war in Chechnya is because the Chechens have been resisting the Russian values and way of life for 500 years.

So, if the war, that the United States are fighting, is about imposing their values and way of life on other people, then there is little prospect for peace and security in the world.
bFreedom and fear are at war, and there will be no quick or easy end to this conflict.The conflict is not between “freedom” and “fear”, but between freedom of the strong to oppress the weak and the fear of the strong that the weak will resist this oppression, and the refusal of the week to submit to it.

So, the strong hope to make their lives secure by killing all those who resist their will.

This is what is happening today in Palestine and Chechnya — genocide.

And as long as this conflict continues, there will be no quick and easy way out of it — just endless war and terror.

The only way out of this conflict is for the strong to abandon the doctrine of “might is right” and to submit themselves to the rule of law based on justice “” unconditional equality before the law for all Mankind.
cIn leading the campaign against terrorism, we are forging new, productive international relationships and redefining existing ones in ways that meet the challenges of the twenty—first century.As long as the present “campaign against terrorism” continues, the American Administration will not be able to achieve their stated purpose of free, peaceful and secure world.

To achieve this purpose they will have to abandon the war on terror campaign and to concentrate their resources on creation of a world order based not on “balance of power”, but on impartial non‐political supra‐national justice.

Notes:

1) “Westernization” of youth means promotion among young people of “pop” music, mini skirts among women, use of alcohol and drugs, sexual promiscuity and homosexuality. These behavioral patterns are now widespread in the Western Democracies, and Western politicians, who seek to retain their waning popularity, which in the past was based on the myths of “right, left and center”, are increasingly rejecting morality and boasting their tolerance to drugs and homosexuality or even openly declaring that they themselves use drugs or are “gay” (homosexual) to attract the votes of the corrupted and mislead by them youth.

There is also a belief among some Western political theorists that promoting this culture among the Muslim youth in the Middle East will lead to “democratization” of the “non‐modern regimes” and a “shift of the balance of power” to “favor the West”. This theory is actively promoted by the Likud Zionists in their attempts to weaken the Arab and other Islamic states and to further their objectives of territorial expansion of Israel.

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