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Analysis/Opinion/Editorial

by Steve Macko, EmergencyNet News Managing Editor

CHICAGO, IL: I have a feeling that I am "beating a dead horse" over the issue of the apparent lack of understanding in world capitals about the new "get tough" policies of the U.S. in the war against terrorism. I guess there's something wrong with us at EmergencyNet News because we can't figure out what's so hard to understand.

There is a major article in the current edition of Newsweek magazine, and posted to the MSNBC website is entitled: "Fears in the 'Un-America.'" The thrust of the piece is about how Europe doesn’t like what it’s hearing from America about terrorism. As POTUS turns up the heat, transatlantic allies are said to be growing uneasy with the US-vs-them rhetoric.

According to the article, Europeans have always found the United States naive, even dangerously so, when it throws its weight around. Well, try this analogy, go to the Zoo of your choice with a wooden 2x4. Go up to a big gorilla and hit it across the back. Did the 800-pound gorilla get angry? Might he chase around anyone else holding a 2x4? Many, if not all, would find that analogy ridiculous...but, it also makes a point. The attackers on 9/11 hit one of the biggest gorillas in the world and now he may strike back against anyone holding a 2x4...where ever they may be found.

If you find that unrealistic, get further reasoning about European thinking from the Newsweek article and please remember it when you go to spend your vacation dollars -- Newsweek said: "One country where the United States is really loathed, certifiably and widely, is Greece -- but by the Christians. Days after September 11, crowds in Athens were burning American flags, and polls showed that many thought the United States had gotten what it deserved at Ground Zero. Why? Because it failed to force the Muslim Turks out of northern Cyprus, and it backed the Muslim Bosnians and Kosovars against the Serbs, who are mostly Orthodox Catholics, like the Greeks." This is precisely the kind nonsense that Americans have gotten fed up with since the 9/11 attacks. Greece, yeah, that bastion of anti-terrorism. That's right, we should've backed Milosevic to keep the Greeks happy?

To the Point

After 9/11, Americans are angry. Can we make it any clearer? We're out to take out terrorists and any one, any trans-national group, or any state that threatens our national security.

Addressing an international security conference in the German city of Munich over the weekend, security advisor Richard Perle said: "One hopes that won't be necessary - but I can promise you that if we have to choose between protecting ourselves against terrorism or a long list of friends and allies, we will protect ourselves against terrorism." He added, America's top priority was not necessarily to build an international coalition - but self-defense. We keep hearing from Europe that they don't know where the U.S. is headed. What's not to understand?

In what was probably the greatest Inaugural Address in U.S. history, President John F Kennedy clearly stated the American philosophy. What he clearly said in January 1961 still holds relevance today. This is where the likes of Usama bin Laden, the evil ayatollahs in Tehran, the madman in Baghdad, and the despot in Pyongyang always miscalculate Americans -- they never hear these words -- and Americans live by them. This, in summary, is what America is all about:

Kennedy said,  "We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty ...

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it...

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you-- ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Arabs Need To Realize That Arafat and His Support For Terrorism Is A Problem

Worldview 2002 - Part II

04 February 2002

Analysis/Opinion/Editorial

by Steve Macko. EmergencyNet News Managing Editor

CHICAGO, IL: Americans have always been accused of having a short memory. Most people in the world believe that Americans live only for the moment and ten minutes later, they are on to other things. But, it also seems interesting to this long-time observer that people in Europe and the Arab world are having a very difficult time remembering what happened about five months ago in New York and Washington on September 11th.

In yesterday's column (below), I related about European efforts to get the United States to change its current policy of bashing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and to begin working, again, with this former (?) terrorist who, at the very least, appears to be returning to his old modus operandi of negotiating "foreign policy" at gunpoint. I admit to having coming down hard on Arafat in the past month. Mainly because I just cannot believe the wrongheaded decisions this guy and the people around him are making. Guess what? Neither can officials in Washington. That's obvious.

Today, let's examine some viewpoints coming out of the Arab world. Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani said in a television interview last week that through Arab eyes: Neither lobbying by American allies in the Middle East region nor the impact of the terrorist attacks has altered the path of U.S. policy, which seems ever more tilted toward Israel. There is, he said, only one option. Hamad said: "We have to beg. The word 'beg' disturbs me, but begging is the right word, for the Arabs don't possess the power, and their situation doesn't allow them to exercise any pressure in favor of the Palestinians."

I am sure the United States doesn't want to see anyone "beg." Americans have absolutely no interest in that. But, Hamad's remarks reflected a broad anxiety that has developed among Arab leaders, analysts and citizens as they have seen U.S. policy evolve since 9/11. For them, it has moved not toward bridge-building with the Arab world, but into what appears to Arabs to be neglect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But, AGAIN, the Arabs MISS the mark. We hear criticism about how the U.S. responds to a situation, but NOT A WORD about the stupidity of how the Palestinians are reacting -- or how they're aggravating the situation. Suicide bombers on the streets of Israel -- who are they? The U.S. has evidence that Arafat and the PA were UP TO THEIR NECK in a recent arms smuggling affair...arms received from the rogue state of Iran. But, people in the Arab world have suggested, that the United States is supposed to ignore that....in the name of achieving "peace in the Middle-East."

Here's something the Palestinians and Arabs need to understand -- more today than ever: United States policy will continue to tilt toward Israel as long as the suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks continue. Americans see these incidents as nothing more than criminal acts and whatever the supposed reasons the Palestinians use for justification are nullified because innocent people are constantly being killed. Why is it so hard for the Palestinians to understand that these continued attacks against Israel are just perceived by the U.S. as the Palestinians shooting themselves in the foot?

Palestinians clapping and celebrating in the streets of the West Bank when the World Trade Center towers came down, killing about 3,000 people, surely didn't help their cause either. Trust me, that little old lady showing up on television with the big smile on her face on 9/11 did quite a bit to damage to how Americans perceive the Palestinians. Are these people we want to help? Forgive us, while we take a moment to ponder the question.

Maybe we should take the advice of the once former Taliban spokesman who said simply that the United States "should get over" what happened on 9/11? Guess what? We're not. To paraphrase a Japanese admiral following Pearl Harbor, the terrorists, all over the world, "have roused a sleeping giant," and are now going to have to pay the consequences.

Believe it or not, it mystifies even the staunchest Arab allies how the United States could live through 9/11 and not move more forcefully to resolve a dispute between Israel and the Palestinians that has inflamed suicide bombers and increased the popularity of radical groups such as the Islamic terrorist group known as HAMAS. After all, that is the seemingly single-minded Arab solution to terrorism. In an interview, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said: "What people in the West don't seem to realize is that this has an impact, that the U.S. has relinquished its role as honest broker, facilitator. The Americans, Maher said "have vanished. People don't know what the U.S. is up to. There is a lot of confusion, and this is no time for confusion. It is very serious."

Well, I'll try to clear it up for Minister Maher. It's really very simple. The United States is no longer tolerating bad behavior, criminal acts, or harboring and supporting terrorists. The President said it very clearly: "You're either with us or you're with the terrorists." The message to the world is...it's time to choose. Arab leaders should recognize that the days of hiding and financing terrorists covertly, with a wink-and-a-nod are over...and will not be tolerated by the USA.

As the cycle of suicide bombings and Israeli military action continued in recent weeks, the U.S. followed Israel's lead in placing more of the blame on Arafat. In a climate of tit-for-tat -- first there's a Palestinian suicide bombing, usually followed by the Israelis picking off a known terrorist or attacking a Palestinian facility. The topper, however, was the recent discovery of a shipment of Iranian arms bound for Palestinian hands. That led directly to U.S. envoy General (ret.) Anthony suspending his efforts to broker a cease-fire.

In the U.S. Congress, there has even been talk of breaking relations with Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Arab commentators and officials say it is as if Arafat's marginalization has become a metaphor for the region as a whole. Just as the Palestinian leader has seemingly lost any leverage he may have had with the Israelis, so, it seems, have the Arab states been unable to sway the attention of the United States.

The leaders of states close to the United States, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have repeatedly appealed for more U.S. intervention. But they have little to show for it except a growing concern that the United States has discarded any hope of working with Arafat, who, in the Arab leader's opinion, remains the only Palestinian Arab perceived as capable of delivering a durable peace agreement.

But at what price? Arafat says his security apparatus is not capable of finding the terrorists that Israel points out to them. Then, when the Israelis go out and do the job for them, the Palestinians loudly complain! The message from the Israelis to Arafat is easy to read. They're saying if we can go out and find these bad guys in the territory that you control -- so can you. But, Arafat doesn't do that. Why?

We hear all kinds of talk that if Arafat were to REALLY crack down on the scum known as HAMAS and Islamic Jihad...there would be an uprising against Arafat's leadership. Reality dictates that there is a possibility of that occurring...and then HAMAS and Islamic Jihad would have to be dealt with just as severely. We can never reward terrorists. But, a number of people at the center of America's foreign policy suggest that the only way that Arafat will ever regain American respect is to loudly declare an end to the "Intifada" and return to the negotiating table, where he can find a peaceful political solution to an equitable and lasting partition of the area.   

It should be noted that the same problems have confronted President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. Just look at the crazies and murderers he has in his country. But, this guy has gone out of his way to say, "we're going to do the right thing." Will he pay the ultimate price for facing down the radicals in his nation? Who knows, but at least he's had the courage to do the right thing and what needs to be done to help rid the world of political and "religious" murderers. In return, he has received the strong support of the United States. That's an example that Arafat needs to emulate and a lesson he needs to learn....if he is to have any hope of future U.S. assistance.

Click here to access a Series of Emergency
Net News "Real-Time" Reports Concerning Multiple Plane Hijackings & Terrorist Attacks in New York
City and
Washington, DC:
11-29 Sep 2001 (updated 09:00
CDT - 29 Sep 2001

Chronology of EmergencyNet
News Reports Concerning Allied Retaliatory Strikes
Against Afghanistan: 07 Oct to 31 Jan 2002 (Part 4 of 4 Parts)  

Worldview 2002 - Part I

03 February 2002

Analysis/Opinion/Editorial

by Steve Macko. EmergencyNet News Managing Editor

CHICAGO, IL: The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana and its Commissioner for relations with the Middle East, Francisco Moratinos, brought their "Save Yasser" campaign to Washington this week and didn't get very far. The two EU leaders are trying to convince U.S. policymakers that Yasser Arafat was still the man who spoke for the Palestinians in the Middle East peace process. The EU visit follows the European Union foreign ministers' questionable declaration of support for Arafat at their summit last month.

According to a well-informed European diplomat, Solana's and Moratinos' message was that "The United States should be very careful not to de-legitimize Arafat, who is the elected leader of the Palestinian Authority, and the Palestinian interlocutor in any negotiations." While that may be true, it would appear that the Europeans have somehow managed to disregard a recent incident involving an attempt to smuggle 50 tons of offensive weapons from Iran into Palestinian-controlled territory... weapons destined to escalate terrorism and increase the death toll in the Middle-East.

Reports have said that the U.S. reaction to the recent meeting was not encouraging. A European diplomat explained: "The Americans want tangible, credible, and very clear signs that Arafat is making an effort to stop the violence and they're not getting them." That sounds about right, why don't the Europeans seem to understand it?

Word is the Europeans' aren't appreciative of a lot of the policy statements that are coming out of Washington lately. At home, President Bush received praise for his excellent State of the Union address last Tuesday, but he is likely to be treated differently at the annual NATO security conference in Munich. The conference brings together defense ministers, generals, diplomats and foreign policy experts, and specializes in no-holds-barred debates that are not open to the public.

Apparently, the President's denunciation of Iran, Iraq and North Korea has brought many European officials to Munich in a foul mood. There have already been derogatory public comments coming from them about the President Bush's "cowboy style." The Europeans, who usually fail to mention their own economic interests when discussing international security issues, say Bush's inclusion of Iran in his list of countries of concern and involved in terrorism was to be considered "ill judged and insensitive" to the divisions between reformists and conservatives inside the Iranian government. The President's reference to "timid" governments that might refuse to support tough U.S. action against rogue states also reportedly has hit the diplomats hard and drew criticism that America doesn't understand the European version of "geopolitical reality."

I have to wonder what the rhetoric would be like in Europe if terrorists had managed to destroy the Eiffel Tower or the Tower of London on 9/11? Then...maybe...the European diplomats would begin to understand the U.S. position on terrorism...

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