"Misunderestimating" the war against terrorism.

• Author: Howell, Llewellyn D.
• Position: World Watcher

GEORGE BUSH is paying the price for never having studied international politics during his Harvard University MBA academic career. It is evident from his Sept. 7 address to the nation that he still has not gotten a grip on the basic structures that underlie his problems with terrorism, dictators, and Israeli foreign policy. The confusion can't be blamed on his speechwriters or advisors. If he takes the credit, he gets the blame. Besides, it should be the leader shaping policy, not his underlings. Where did he, and his policy, go wrong?

The most critical error the Administration has made is its confusion of Iraq with the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The Administration has repeated the suppositional relationship between Saddam Hussein and the attacks of 9/11 so often that polls are finding most Americans believe there actually was a connection even though none has been shown to exist.

Well before A1 Qaeda became an influential international actor, it was clear that Saddam Hussein's regime had taken a far more secular course than the religious zealots would or could accommodate. That secularism was a necessary means of dealing with the tribalism and religious divisions in Iraq. A1 Qaeda, in fact, regularly referred to Saddam's regime as an "infidel" government. Even without Bush's later modification of his claim that Saddam and A1 Qaeda were linked, but that the dictator had no role in 9/11, belies the disparity that existed. By insisting on a connection--sans evidence--between the two, the President appears to have a basic misconception of what the problem is in the Middle East and, in fact, in the interchange between the West and the Islamic world.

Defining terrorism

Trouble is, the Administration does not have a working definition of terrorism. Let us try to get this conceptually straight. The 9/11 attacks were acts of what we commonly recognize as terrorism. A1 Qaeda was behind them with the primary actors being Saudis, including Osama bin Laden. The intent of a terrorist act is to intimidate, create fear, and undermine the will to fight. The perpetrators carried out their acts by committing suicide. Terrorism takes many forms, including acts by the Ku Klux Klan in recent U.S. history. However, most have not involved suicide. To commit only one act of terror, and to die doing it, involves very powerful beliefs--beliefs in another life. Religious terrorism, in this sense, is distinct from other manifestations. These people apparently believe...