Rice wouldn't admit mistakes (Robert Jensen alert)

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | 4/11/2004 | Robert Jensen

[dirtboy]

Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 commission didn't resolve questions about what the Bush administration could, or should, have done to prevent the attack, but her comments made it clear how Bush policies since 9/11 have made Americans radically less safe.

While Republicans and mainstream Democrats argue over what Bush and Clinton officials did or didn't do, the conventional wisdom - that Bush officials may have dragged their feet before 9/11 but have since acted decisively to protect Americans - goes unchallenged.

But the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan has done virtually nothing to prevent future terrorist attacks, and the Iraq war has boosted recruitment efforts of groups such as al-Qaeda.

The Afghanistan war typically is treated as a victory, though it's not clear why. By June 2002, classified FBI and CIA investigations concluded that the war failed to diminish the al-Qaeda threat and may have complicated counterterrorism efforts by dispersing potential attackers. Indeed, after the war a variety of radical Islamic groups around the world came together, aided in part by al-Qaeda members who had fled Afghanistan.

The invasion of Iraq, which never had anything to do with fighting terrorism, has provided fresh examples of U.S. brutality for al-Qaeda recruiters. As Rice was testifying on Thursday, the death toll from the U.S. attack on Fallujah rose to 300, doctors begged the United States to lift the siege, and news that the U.S. military bombed a mosque circulated around the Arab and Muslim world.

Virtually everywhere outside the United States, people understand the Iraq war was not about liberation of the Iraqi people (claims about weapons of mass destruction, if they ever were taken seriously elsewhere, evaporated long ago) but about extending and deepening U.S. dominance in the Middle East. While the majority in the Muslim world do not support terrorism (by groups or nations), U.S. policy - and the ugly way it is carried out - creates conditions for support or toleration of groups such as al-Qaeda.

Yet, instead of acknowledging this wide, deep resistance to U.S. policy, Rice on Thursday repeated the absurd claim that America was targeted "because of who we are - no other reason, but for who we are." Rice seemed to think she was boosting Bush's standing by repeatedly emphasizing that he is now on a "war footing" in this so-called "war on terrorism."

In the world's overwhelming superpower, U.S. policymakers talk easily of war; no nation or group can challenge the United States on conventional military terms. Yet so long as the United States shows contempt for international law, international institutions, and the views of the rest of the world, that military dominance is also a weakness. It inevitably leads to asymmetrical tactics; if military targets are too strong, opponents will hit "soft targets." In the end, no administration can protect us from all attacks under such conditions.

To acknowledge that reality is not to justify terrorism but to realize that if U.S. foreign policy doesn't change dramatically, more terrorist attacks are inevitable. Ironically, Rice talked of that inevitability when she told commissioners that "there was no silver bullet that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks." Echoing Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address ("... and the war came"), she said, "So the attacks came."

The roots of those attacks were in the indefensible policies of previous administrations that sought dominance over the region with the largest, most accessible reserves of the most strategically important commodity in the world. Significant policy changes that the United States should pursue on both moral and pragmatic grounds - withdrawing all military forces from the Middle East and ending reflexive support for the brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine - would lessen the threat immediately.

Rice told the commission "the war on terrorism has... given us an organizing principle that allows us to think about terrorism." That's true, but it's the wrong organizing principle that leads us to think in the wrong way. And the cost of those mistakes will continue to be borne by innocents, around the world and in the United States.

Robert Jensen is author of "Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity." He can be reached at rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.

[dirtboy]

But the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan has done virtually nothing to prevent future terrorist attacks

Anyone who can say this with a straight face is too dumb to clean toilets. But I guess he could be qualified to be a journalism professor.

[Wolverine]

Every Freeper should have the email address of at least 5 newspapers in their state.

 

 

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[onevoter]

Of course Robert is absolutely right! After all, before we started the war with Iraq, all Muslim militants loved us and would never have considered any terrorist activities against either American civilians or American military, right????? Is this guy really that stupid - what self-respecting paper would let someone like this actually right for them much less publish such drivel?

[alloysteel]

Why admit to a 'mistake' that was none of your making, and as part of the 'apology' reverse the course of actions you are taking to mitigate the effects of errors and omissions initiated by others? Dick Clarke, I can see admitting mistakes and apologizing, but he was THERE when the most serious lapses in judgment were committed, and even he said most of his warnings fell on deaf ears.

[MNJohnnie]

As yes, another member of the Hysteric Left writing for a "newspaper" who thinks if he screams his ignorent, bigoted opinons over and over they some how become truth. Funny how NO profession International Relations or Military office supports his wacko views yet he feel qualified to lecture them.

[paguch]

As we read these reports we see the plan set by the Democratic Party members of the Security committee come into play. This plan was exposed, why do we not have a recognition now that this was the intent all along?

[facedown]

When I was a kid growing up in the Philly suburbs, the Inquirer was a respectable newspaper. Of course that was when they had competition from the afternoon paper.

[Blue Screen of Death]

Another reason I can't get too upset when UT whines about not having enough money. With faculty like this, they should ask Beijing for funding.

[fightu4it]

Condi missed a great opportunity to give as good as she got to former senator Bob Kerrey.

She should have kept refereing to him as Mr. Carville.

[Dawgreg]

Well I feel I'm safer from another attack on our soil than I do from these radical morons like Jensen. What has happened here? Are there no limits anymore? :(

[Clara Lou]

Rice wouldn't admit mistakes
Why, I think it was very gracious of Condi Rise not to admit to Clinton era mistakes.

[mass55th]

Here's a copy of an email I just sent this clown:

Mr. Jensen:

I thought the 9/11 Commission was to investigate all avenues from the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000, and the 9/11/2001 World Trade Center attack. I didn't realize that these hearings were for individuals from the Bush or Clinton Adminstration to admit mistakes. Isn't that really the job of the Commission? To assign errors in judgement...mistakes by all parties involved, not just one Administration?

Frankly, I find it hard to understand how such a Commission could properly conduct a comprehensive and thorough investigation without also including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center on up through 9/11. And, I'm having a problem understanding why Attorney General John Ashcroft is being called to testify and not ex-Attorney General Janet Reno. I think both should be held responsible for what their departments did or didn't do. Why is Ashcroft being singled out? Has anybody bothered to report that at no time was John Ashcroft asked any questions on terrorism during his tumultuous hearings? Obviously, abortion was more important an issue than the fact that terrorism had been occurring here and on foreign shores all through the Clinton Administration.

Frankly Mr. Jensen, I find it rather alarming that the Clinton Administration was more aggressive in placing blame for the Cole bombing on the Captain and crew than they were on the terrorists who committed the crime. In the days following the attack on the USS Cole, the intelligence community stated that all fingers pointed toward bin Laden, yet both Mr. Clinton and his officials have claimed they didn't have concrete evidence to blame bin Laden. Besides a September video of bin Laden saying that he was planning on attacking military bases and ships, there were at least three warnings in the weeks before the attack. One warning specifically dealt with an attack on an American warship. Now where are the questions from the Commission on this? Why hasn't anybody asked Mr. Clinton what he knew about the dangers to our military sites & Naval vessels, and when he knew it?

This Commission isn't searching for the truth. Hell, our government spent more time pursuing Microsoft, Iran-Contra and Whitewater than they have gathering information in this Commission. How do you set a time limit for what is probably one of the most important set of hearings in the history of this country? Since it's a Presidential election year, the answer is sadly clear. I can't wait for the books to come out on the work of the 9/11 Commission entitled "Rush to Judgment."

So before you go making demands of Dr. Rice, I think the more appropriate thing to do would be to dissect these hearings and find out what mistakes are being made by the Commission in trying to gather ALL the information necessary to come up with a legitimate conclusion. In my eyes, they are sorely lacking.

[Publius6961]

While the majority in the Muslim world do not support terrorism (by groups or nations), U.S. policy - and the ugly way it is carried out - creates conditions for support or toleration of groups such as al-Qaeda.

What galaxy did this MENSA graduate just arrive from?
Let me find the list of mindless atrocities committed by the sandmaggots prior to 911.

The majority?

The "conditions of support and toleration for mindless murder" were operative for years before 911 and continue to this day. Asserting otherwise is simply a variant of "who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes and ears?"

[TexasCajun]

Austin, The Berkley of Texas!

[MNJohnnie]

Copy of my email to this moron.


rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu

"But the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan has done virtually nothing to prevent future terrorist attacks, and the Iraq war has boosted recruitment efforts of groups such as al-Qaeda".


Dear Sir,

As a Professor of Journalism, I am surprised by the complete lack of factual accuracy or intellectual honesty in your article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I have a simple challenge for you. Provide proof to back up even 1/5th of your statements in your next post. You cannot. The reason is really very simple. Like most members of the Hysteric Left, you have fallen pray to the "My Opinion is Fact" fallacy. You seem to think that because you FEEL something it is true. It is not. It is very funny however, that a complete amateur on both International Relations and Military Operations thinks he is qualified to lecture the professionals on THEIR field. Sir, the Military and the Diplomatic Corps do not lecture you on how to teach Journalism. Please extend the same curtsey to them and refrain from trying to lecture in fields you clearly know NOTHING about.