strategy-to-fight-terrorism

Friday, May 30, 2014

re: U.S. Strategy to Fight Terrorism Increasingly Uses Proxies

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, May 30, 2014 at 10:37 PM
Subject: re: U.S. Strategy to Fight Terrorism Increasingly Uses Proxies
To: "letters@nytimes.com" 

To the Editor:

   In September 2001,demonstrations in capitals around the world--including a million men in Teheran--marched in solidarity with the U.S., and in revulsion at the attacks of 9/11.  At that moment, the U.S. could have led a broad international law-enforcement drive to apprehend the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks and no one would have stood in our way. Instead, George W. Bush preferred to cast himself as a war-time leader and to seize extraordinary powers. Calling for "crusade" he alienated crucial allies. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran could not join such a project, much as they wanted al-Qaeda destroyed.

   To speak of "proxies" in president Obama's strategy is to accept too quickly the view that the U.S. is the sole protagonist here. We should remember that we are but one of al-Qaeda's targets, and we should be sharing this fight not with proxies but with allies.

Barry Haskell Levine

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/world/africa/us-strategy-to-fight-terrorism-increasingly-uses-proxies.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0