Washington buzzword is 'blowback'
By JOHN HALL
Published: Feb 15, 2003
John Hall is the Washington bureau chief of Media General News Service.
If there is an invasion of Iraq pre-emptively without support of the United Nations, the risk of the United States becoming a terrorist target increases. Same goes for those who join or support American policy.
Iraq blowback was apparently coined by the CIA. It figured in last week's decision to put the nation on high alert level - orange in the spectrum of the new Homeland Security Department. And it appears to be one of the main factors in the drastically heightened security measures Britain has adopted, including combat troops on the approaches to Heathrow Airport
Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged in congressional testimony that blowback against the civilian population is a concern. But the nation has to accept some risks to keep the Iraqis from developing weapons of mass destruction, he said.
The White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, suggested it would somehow be submitting to blackmail to say that war would lead to retaliation against American citizens. Blowback is a reality, however. The government has more or less been planning for it since last fall. And overseas, the decision of France and Germany to oppose an Iraq invasion may well have been motivated by a desire not to become a target. Whooo, Bucko!! You are one dim bulb.
Self-protection was evident in the lack of vigor across Europe in pursuing al-Qaida terrorist cells and bringing suspects to justice both before and after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. And there has been an unspoken fear among some officials, expressed openly by some European anti-war groups, about being publicly identified as an ally of the United States in the war on terrorism or being too aggressive against radical groups who have targeted America.
The French have themselves been victims of terrorist attacks and have grown very cautious with their large Muslim population. Spain and other neighbors have complained about lack of cooperation from France in fighting terrorists.No sh*t, Dick Tracy
Germans have became a magnet for Middle Eastern students attracted by liberal immigration laws and generous government assistance. Evidence coming out of the al-Qaida trial now concluding in Hamburg has shown the astonishing ease with which young radicals bent on destruction of America blended in as happy, westernized and modernized Europeans.
Terrorists looking to fulfill Osama bin Laden's directive for more violence against America and its allies may now have a reason to turn away from potential targets in Germany, France and Belgium. Law enforcement officials think other regions of Europe are much more vulnerable. The huge build-up at London's key international airport last week was the result. You didn't see any security alert in Berlin, Paris and Brussels.Nor did you see any display in intestinal fortitude.
Britain, under Prime Minister Tony Blair, decided early on to be an aggressive and influential supporter of U.S. policy, rather than standing off and playing it safe. The British have done a good job investigating and controlling their homegrown radicals without disturbing the rights of their mainly peaceful Muslim community.
One fear is that al-Qaida travelers from other European Union countries, who will be harder to track than other international arrivals because they don't need to show a passport, could fly or train in to do their dirty business without notice. The British, as they were in The Blitz and are now, stand only a channel away from trouble. Sorry, John, they just took a position of strength and improved the safety of their citizens
In the United States, people stock up with water, duct tape and plastic with stiff upper lips. But the inability of anyone at the moment to see an end to this could threaten the unity.
As Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., put it to Powell, "we are going to fight a war, win the war and, when the war is over, we are still going to be in code orange. Or maybe then we'll be in code red because we have totally emblazoned all the people who have put us in code orange to begin with.''
Powell's response was that the fight was to prevent something else: the joining of al-Qaida and Iraq, the nexus of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. That would be the worst blowback of all.
John Hall is the senior Washington correspondent of Media General News Service. Email jhall@mediageneral.com.
Retractions, anyone.