Posted on 07/01/2004 11:06:42 AM PDT by NavySEAL F-16
'Our Enemy Is Not Terrorism'
The U.S. Naval Institute 130th Annual Meeting and Annapolis Naval History Symposium (2004)
Address by Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman
We are at a juncture today that really is more of a threshold, even more of a watershed, than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was in 1941. We are currently in a war, but it is not a war on terrorism. In fact, that has been a great confusion, and the sooner we drop that term, the better. This would be like President Franklin Roosevelt saying in World War II, "We are engaged in a war against kamikazes and blitzkrieg." Like them, terrorism is a method, a tool, a weapon that has been used against us. And part of the reason we suffered such a horrific attack is that we were not prepared. Let's not kid ourselves. Some very smart people defeated every single defense this country had, and defeated them easily, with confidence and arrogance. There are many lessons we must learn from this.
We were not prepared intellectually. Those of us in the national security field still carried the baggage of the Cold War. We thought in concepts of coalition warfare and the Warsaw Pact. When we thought of terrorism, we thought only of state-sponsored terrorism, which is why the immediate reaction of many in our government agencies after 9/11 was: Which state did it? Saddam, it must have been Saddam. We had failed to grasp, for a variety of reasons, the new phenomenon that had emerged in the world. This was not state-sponsored terrorism. This was religious war.
This was the emergence of a transnational enemy driven by religious fervor and fanaticism. Our enemy is not terrorism. Our enemy is violent, Islamic fundamentalism. None of our government institutions was set up with receptors, or even vocabulary, to deal with this. So we left ourselves completely vulnerable to a concerted attack.
Where are we today? I'd like to say we have fixed these problems, but we haven't. We have very real vulnerabilities. We have not diminished in any way the fervor and ideology of our enemy. We are fighting them in many areas of the world, and I must say with much better awareness of the issues and their nature. We're fighting with better tools. But I cannot say we are now safe from the kind of attack we saw on 9/11. I think we are much safer than we were on 9/11; the ability of our enemies to launch a concerted, sophisticated attack is much less than it was then. Still, we're totally vulnerable to the kinds of attacks we've seen in Madrid, for instance. We face a very sophisticated and intelligent enemy who has been trained, in many cases, in our universities and gone to school on our methods, learned from their mistakes, and continued to use the very nature of our free society and its aversion to intrusion in privacy and discrimination to their benefit.
For example, today it is still a prohibited offense for an airline to have two people of the same ethnic background interviewed at one time, because that is discrimination. Our airline security is still full of holes. Our ability to carry out covert operations abroad is only marginally better than it was at the time of 9/11. A huge amount of fundamental cultural and institutional change must be carried out in the United States before we can effectively deal with the nature of the threat. Today, probably 50 or more states have schools that are teaching jihad, preaching, recruiting, and training. We have absolutely no successful programs even begun to remediate against those efforts.
It's very important that people understand the complexity of this threat. We have had to institute new approaches to protecting our civil liberties-the way we authorize surveillance, the way we conduct our immigration and naturalization policies, and the way we issue passports. That's only the beginning. The beginning of wisdom is to recognize the problem, to recognize that for every jihadist we kill or capture-as we carry out an aggressive and positive policy in Afghanistan and elsewhere-another 50 are being trained in schools and mosques around the world.
This problem goes back a long way. We have been asleep. Just by chance about six months ago, I picked up a book by V. S. Naipaul, one of the great English prose writers. I love to read his short stories and travelogues. The book was titled Among the Believers (New York: Vintage, 1982) and was an account of his travels in Indonesia, where he found that Saudi-funded schools and mosques were transforming Indonesian society from a very relaxed, syncretist Islam to a jihadist fundamentalist fanatical society, all paid for with Saudi Arabian funding. Nobody paid attention. Presidents in four administrations put their arms around Saudi ambassadors, ignored the Wahhabi jihadism, and said these are our eternal friends.
We have seen throughout the last 20 years a kind of head-in-the-sand approach to national security in the Pentagon. We were comfortable with the existing concept of what the threat was, what threat analysis was, and how we derived our requirements, still using the same old tools we all grew up with. We paid no attention to the real nature of this emerging threat, even though there were warning signs.
Many will recall with pain what we went through in the Reagan administration in 1983, when the Marine barracks were bombed in Beirut-241 Marines and Navy corpsmen were killed. We immediately got an intercept from NSA [National Security Agency], a total smoking gun from the foreign ministry of Iran, ordering the murder of our Marines. Nothing was done to retaliate. Instead, we did exactly what the terrorists wanted us to do, which was to withdraw. Osama bin Laden has cited this as one of his dawning moments. The vaunted United States is a paper tiger; Americans are afraid of casualties; they run like cowards when attacked; and they don't even bother to take their dead with them. This was a seminal moment for Osama.
After that, we had our CIA station chief kidnapped and tortured to death. Nothing was done. Then, we had our Marine Colonel [William R.] Higgins kidnapped and publicly hanged. Nothing was done We fueled and made these people aware of the tremendous effectiveness of terrorism as a tool of jihad. It worked. They chased us out of one place after another, because we would not retaliate.
The Secretary of Defense at the time has said he never received those intercepts That's an example of one of the huge problems our commission has uncovered. We have allowed the intelligence community to evolve into a bureaucratic archipelago of baronies in the Defense Department, the CIA, and 95 other different intelligence units in our government. None of them talked to one another in the same computerized system. There was no systemic sharing. Some will recall the Phoenix memo and the fact that there were people in the FBI saying, "Hey, there are young Arabs learning to fly and they don't want to learn how to take off or land. Maybe we should look into them." It went nowhere.
We had watch lists with 65,000 terrorists' names on them, created by a very sophisticated system in the State Department called Tip-Off. That existed before 9/11, but nobody in the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] bothered to look at it. The FAA had 12 names on its no-fly list. The State Department had a guy on its list named Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He was already under indictment for his role in planning the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. The State Department issued him a visa. I could go on and on.
Two big lessons glare out from what our investigations have discovered so far. Number one, in our government bureaucracy today there is no accountability. Since 9/11-the greatest failure of American defenses in the history of our country, at least since the burning of Washington in 1814-only one person has been fired. He is a hero, in my judgment: [retired Vice] Admiral John Poindexter. He got fired because of an excessive zeal to catch these bastards. But he was the only one fired. Not any of the 19 officers lost their jobs at Immigration for allowing the 19 terrorists-9 who presented grossly falsified passports-to enter the country. One Customs Service officer stopped the 20th terrorist, at risk to his own career. Do you think he's been promoted? Not a chance.
That is the culture we've allowed to develop, except in the Navy. We've all felt the pain over the last year of the number of skippers who have been relieved in the U.S. Navy: two on one cruiser in one year. That's a problem for us. It's also something we should be mightily proud of, because it stands out in stark contrast to the rest of the U.S. government. In the United States Navy, we still have accountability. It's bred into our culture And what we stand for here has to be respread into our government and our nation.
Actions have consequences, and people must be held accountable. Customs officer Jose Melendez-Perez stopped the 20th terrorist, who was supposed to be on Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Probably because of the shorthanded muscle on that team, the passengers were able to overcome the terrorists. Melendez-Perez did this at great personal risk, because his colleagues and his supervisors told him, "You can't do this. This guy is an Arab ethnic. You're racially profiling. You're going to get in real trouble, because it's against Department of Transportation policy to racially profile" He said, "I don't care. This guy's a bad guy. I can see it in his eyes." As he sent this guy back out of the United States, the guy turned around to him and said, "I'll be back." You know, he is back. He's in Guantanamo. We captured him in Afghanistan. Do you think Melendez-Perez got a promotion? Do you think he got any recognition? Do you think he is doing any better than the 19 of his time-serving, unaccountable colleagues? Don't think any bit of it. We have no accountability, but we're going to restore it.
The other glaring lack that has been discovered throughout the investigation is in leadership. Leadership is the willingness to accept the burdens and the risks, the potential embarrassment, and the occasional failure of leading men and women. It is saying: We will do it this way. I won't let that guy in. I will do this and I'll take the consequences. That's what we stand for here. That's what the crucible of the U.S. Naval Academy has carried on now since 1845, and what the U.S. Naval Institute has carried on for 130 years and hasn't compromised We all should be very proud of it. We need leadership now more than ever. We need to respread this culture, which is so rare today, into the way we conduct our government business, let alone our private business.
Having said all this, I'm very optimistic. We have seen come forward in this investigation people from every part of our bureaucracy to say they screwed up and to tell what went wrong and what we've got to do to change it. We have an agenda for change. I think we're going to see a very fundamental shift in the culture of our government as a result of this. I certainly hope so.
This should be a true wake-up call. We cannot let this be swept under the rug, put on the shelf like one more of the hundreds of other commissions that have gone right into the memory hole. This time, I truly believe it's going to be different.
What happen in the past is over, and now we have to fight and WIN! Is that so wrong?
Notice i said jihadists. That is the Muslim word for making holy war against infidels. I do not believe the IRA or ELF, or other terrorist orgn. promote "jihad". Nor do I know of any other terror wielding groups that perform for only religious reasons and in the name of their god. If you do, enlighten me--I am one of the "inquiring minds" and I want to know.
As a matter of fact, looking at the body count from terrorist bombings, etc. for the past decade, probably 95% were done by jihadist muslims.
Just as in other religions, Islam is made up of many different factions, many of which, do not agree with others. That is why I say it is not a religious war.
I think when people read religious writings, they tend to overlook those parts which, for whatever reason, they do not agree with, find distasteful, unable to believe, etc., but they continue regarding themselves as members of that particular religion. I believe they also, for whatever reason, will interpret much of what they read, in a manner that most suits them as individuals.
You have chosen to interpret that particular verse, pretty much literally, while another may not. Perhaps, someone else has a different definition of what you consider to be a 'disbeliever'. Perhaps, 'to strike off the head' would mean to someone else...'the leader', not literally a persons head.
This is why I believe religious followings to be completely relative to the individual, therefore, I cannot consider this a religious war. For example, that verse may not be interpreted or even translated the exact same in a different language. I hope you follow what I am trying to say, regardless of whether you believe it or not...of course, it all depends on how you interpret what I have said.
I would ask you to look at my #143.
Oh, Please! The crusades were principally trying to recover the lands taken over by the Muslims, and were generally failures, indicating they did not have the ability. As for the Holy Roman Empire, it was an elected monarchy, principally secular in its rule and did not require a specific religious preference even to become emperor. It ruled over many different religions.
But the point of my question to you related to your contention that groups today have the willingness and ability to establish a religious empire. Please explain.
Thank You for the PING to this thread.
EXCELLENT!
Will Save it and read later.
Shabbat Shalom to You and Your Households.
not speaking historically--we are speaking of NOW and of specific threats posed by jihadist terrorists.
The difference in the distinction that you do not see is that these jihadists are committed to religious war worldwide, even in muslim countries who do not fall into line and agree with their cause--i.e. look at Turkey, the muslim country that specifically keeps its religious and secular separated in govt.
The partly religious war in Ireland, for instance is pretty well confined to Ireland and the occasional incident in England. Although somewhat rooted in religion, this war is primarily about historical governance.
The muslim onslaught being lead by fanatical Wahabists is worldwide and totally religious in nature.
vaudine
The people (terrorists) who "hate our country" do so because of their Islamic beliefs and worldview. Their hatred and antipathy for the U.S., democratic republics and non-Muslims grows not out of a vacuum, but from their religious beliefs.
It would not have been plausible to say 'we are not in an ideological war' in WW 2 neither is it reasonable to ignore the fact that religion (Islam) is the fuel, the motivation and impetus, of Al-Queda, et.al.
Not all Muslims have taken up arms against the Christian West or Hindu/Buddhist East, but many have - and have done so in the name of Islam. There are plenty of resources on the net to illustrate that waging jihad is not a misreading or misuse of the Qu'ran, but its application.
In fact you are right! There are a number of Christians, for example, in Iraq. The peaceable Muslims not bent on jihad have killed and persecuted a number of them. Others still have fled the country.
Your logic is frightening. By your reasoning, our war against Nazi Germany was not a war against facism because not all Americans supported that war. Likewise, the Crusades were not religious wars because not all Christians supported them. I think you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who does not think the Crusades were religious wars. The mohammedans certainly view their conflict against the west as a religius war.
The Holy Roman Empire represents the Church stepping in to fill the gap left by the crumbling Roman Empire lest society fall into chaos. The Church had its own courts, schools, authority structure.
If the Church had not supported European civil society as it did, we may not be here.
The Crusades were intially, though they certainly veered off into the obscene and immoral, an attempt to protect Christian pilgrims and residents in the 'holy land' who were being persecuted and murdered by Muslims.
There is no analog in either Christianity or Judaism, including the call for the conquest of the Canannites in Joshua, that stands alongside the Qu'ranic injunction to wage jihad until the entire world and all peoples are submitted and subjugated by violence to Islam. None.
Read what I said. I said to recover the lands taken over by the Muslims. This was principally the Holy land. As I said, the Crusades were generally considered a failure. But you again declined to answer the question concerning your point that non-Muslim terrorism bent on establishing a religious empire exists today. That is the real point here, not a thousand year historical debate which has absolutely no impact on today's Islamofascism.
I agree that they are acting in the name of their religion...as it suits them...
I would suggest that in the future, when posting Islamic quotes, you include some of these...
The Holy Qur'an > Surah Al-Baqarah> Verse 11
When it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth," they say: "Why, we only want to make peace!"
"If anyone harms (others), God will harm him, and if anyone shows hostility to others, God will show hostility to him." Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1625
"Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." Fourth Hadith of an-Nawawi 13
"O mankind! We created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know and honor each other (not that you should despise one another). Indeed the most honorable of you in the sight of God is the most righteous." Chapter 49, Verse 13
"God does not forbid you to be kind and equitable to those who have neither fought against your faith nor driven you out of your homes. In fact God loves the equitable." Chapter 60, Verse 8
"And in their [the earlier prophets] footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the law that had come before him. We sent him the Gospel, therein was guidance and light and confirmation of the law that had come before him, a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God." Chapter 5, Verse 46
"Repel (evil) with what is better. Then will he, between whom and thee was hatred, become as it were thy friend and intimate. And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint." Chapter 41, Verse 34 and 35
"Be quick in the race for forgiveness from your Lord, and for a Garden (paradise) whose width is that of the heavens and of the earth, prepared for the righteous - Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity or in adversity, who restrain (their) anger and pardon (all) men - for God loves those who do good." Chapter 3, Verses 133-134
"And what will explain to you what the steep path is? It is the freeing of a (slave) from bondage; or the giving of food in a day of famine to an orphan relative, or to a needy in distress. Then will he be of those who believe, enjoin fortitude and encourage kindness and compassion." Chapter 90, Verses 12-17
"Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant." Chapter 7, Verse 199
"Say ye: 'We believe in God and the revelation given to us and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord. We make no difference between one and another of them, and we bow to God.' " Chapter 2, Verse 136
"Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38
"Avoid cruelty and injustice...and guard yourselves against miserliness, for this has ruined nations who lived before you." Riyadh-us-Salaheen, Hadith 203.
See, even the terrorists do not obey all of their tenets.
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