American Politics Journal

"And The War's Only Just Begun"
by Tommy Ates

Feb. 25, 2002 (APJP) -- When President Bush gave his special address to Congress on September 20 telling the nation the war on terrorism may last 'years,' the media and American people did not take him seriously. After the events of the past week, perhaps they should.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon are eating crow this week as early media-received successes are proving harder to quantify amidst ethnic tensions of Afghanistan. The January 23rd military commando raid by the U.S. Army, which killed more than 14 people, turned out not to be on a Taliban or al-Qaeda target, just Afghan citizens. The small but growing reports within United States intelligence, in confusion as ethnic groups give false information, prove more of an embarrassment that Rumsfeld can't seem to explain away.

In a half-hearted defense, Donald Rumsfeld commented that the civilians' fate was "unfortunate" but, "on the other hand, one cannot fault the people who fired back in self-defense." Soldiers acting out of ignorance and fear? That response could be plausible. But in the larger scope of the war, can U.S. foreign policy be held to account for sending our best and finest into unknown territory (with unverified information) to produce the 'desired' result of eliminating Taliban and al Qaeda out of thin air?

As Minnesotans' say, "You betcha!"

It is troubling to hear multiple reports from Afghan villagers who claim to have witnessed possible abuse from the hands of American soldiers. Rumsfeld's Pentagon has mastered the mainstream media into dismissing such accounts of abuse and bodies of villagers tied in U.S. military-issue handcuffs, simply based on the Defense Secretary's entertaining personality and claims of ignorance about possible abuses. Even during the "patriot-first" months of late 2001, that may have worked -- but since the war on terror has been idled, domestic issues are taking hold, guaranteeing this tactic won't work much longer (especially if there is another attack).

Meanwhile, interim Afghanistan Prime Minister Hamed Karzai is increasing facing pressure from the warlords and ethnic groups competing over turf and debating whether the newly formed central government is best for them. The U.S.-backed Karzai faces clashes between Tajiks and Uzbeks (part of the Northern Alliance) over territory in the North as well as increasing tensions between the Northern Alliance and the majority Pashtuns (whose population includes Hamed Karzai and the Taliban).

The question arises as to whether America's increasing support of the new central Afghan government weakens the United States' effectiveness in fighting the war on terrorism. No matter what angle of the Middle East conflict the Bush Administration decides to focus on, unfinished business still exists -- a fact Congressional Democrats have not forgotten about, the need for closure, even if its means taking some hard falls on foreign relations in the process (hence, the President's hints of the U.S. "going it alone" on Iraq).

All of this tough talk and posturing on terrorism does not negate the fact that no one in U.S. intelligence knows where Osama bin Laden, our most "specific threat", actually is. In terms of gathering intelligence on international dissidents, the United States lags far behind our European counterparts (such as Germany and Italy). Yet plans to increase training and inclusion of people of color into American intelligence were never enforced and barely encouraged, even in the Clinton years. The power of the President to influence department heads to make changes is strong -- but it still could fall in deaf ears, just as happened between President Clinton and ex-FBI director Louis Freeh.

The military and public setbacks of the U.S. helicopter crash off the Philippine coast and the death of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl illustrate the mounting causalities that the American war machine will likely take on an ongoing basis. In order to keep up the enthusiasm of American people towards Bush's military buildup, the Pentagon will need to generate targets and victories quickly. And in the case of the newly minted Office of Strategic Information, no one will know for sure whether it will be real or otherwise.

In order to claim a lasting victory over the issue of international terrorism, U.S. foreign policy must reflect an openness to look at the issues that most affect the global Islamic populace, including American support for non-democratic regimes for financial gain (i.e., Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) and a perceived "blind" support of Israel in handling the Palestinian struggle for sovereignty.

The assumption that the American people have the patience to fight unseen enemies who might be a threat appears dubious at best -- and at worst, a war without end.

Tommy Ates loves the left because the left is always right! Tommy Ates is a featured columnist of Left Is Right and his commentary appears in several publications, such as Aggressive Voice, AWOL Magazine, The Community Voice, Democratic Underground, Global Black News, Liberal Slant, and Online Journal among others.