RE: And another view

["Shahab Mesbah" <meteor2@moscow.com>]

Thank you for posting this. It is a point of view that has truth in it. It
is true that a few fundamentalist religious individuals dislike the ways of
the west as decadent. Actually some fundamentalist religious Christians in
this country have the same opinion. Many non-religious and non-fanatic
friends right here in our discussion group would say the same thing and in
some ways I would have to agree with this view with them. To blame the
animosity we face in general to religious conviction, however, is rooted in
not understanding the culture of the Persian Middle East. Religion has been
used to distort truth and mislead the general population for thousands of
years. In a fascinating history book I read recently the author tracks the
fall of every great civilization to its inability to keep religion out of
the affairs of the state (we are going this way too). Religions are funny
things... they come and bring civilization by teaching man to follow a
righteous path. Eventually these good teachings age and their meaning fade.
Slowly the fundamental teachings are lost and language has changed.
Translations loose significant details and disasters destroy original
archives. Before long the two thousand year old religion has very little to
do with the original teachings that were brought to man for his guidance.
Man has a tendency to try to "enhance" religion to his own liking and needs.
At this point the religion is used by the clerics to manipulate and control
people. In Iran the religious clerics are millionaires... they are not in
this for the religious principles... they are in it for the money. Taliban
is a drug cartel... to say that they are a religious organization is
misguided. This would explain why we have done the wrong thing for the past
40 years in the region.

"Your brother in arms"
Shahab...


-----Original Message-----
From: WMSteed@aol.com [mailto:WMSteed@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2001 8:05 PM
To: vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: And another view

This is somewhat long and we have been inundated with info on terrorist.
but
worth reading....

>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. It's well worth it. This is the real thing.
>---------------------------------------------
>
>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. Today'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 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.