Information not retaliation

The United States has undoubtedly experienced an act of war in the form of terrorist attacks on both the Pentagon and World Trade Center. In war, retaliation is a necessity. But the decision that will soon confront American leadership is what will happen once our goals have been met. \nThe destruction of the Taliban and al Qaeda will not destroy terrorism, it will destroy terrorists. Terrorism exists because of ignorance and misunderstanding. To perpetuate acts of war on ignorant populations will result in the conversion of a new generation of orphaned children ready to revitalize the cause the U.S. now sets out to destroy. \nGovernments across the Middle East use the oppression of their citizenry to deny their people information that could cure their hatred. In a recent New York Times article, "Fighting bin Ladenism," Thomas L. Friedman documents false information published by Al-Ahram, a semi-official Egyptian Daily. An article written by the paper's editor, Ibrahim Nafie, claimed that the United States deliberately dropped humanitarian food aid into known Afghan mine fields. Mr. Nafie, who was appointed by Egyptian President Hasni Mubarak, goes on to say that the food had been genetically treated with the intention of harming the Afghan people. Arab opposition to the United States might not be as popular if people knew the reality of the allied war effort, rather than learning lies through propaganda disguised as journalism.\nMany citizens throughout the Arab world know nothing of western aid. Western involvement in their region is viewed as part of an imperialist plot to replace the Islamic way of life with fast food and pornography. Countries that harbor terrorism in most cases fit a very specific mold; incredible poverty mixed with an oppressive government. Extremism is tolerated because it provides a convenient excuse for the problems associated with dictatorial regimes who have a vested interest in the ignorance of their populations. \nIn his New York Times editorial piece, "Yes, This is About Islam," Salman Rushdie comments on the Islamic extremist movement; "Poverty is their great helper, and the fruit of their efforts is paranoia. This paranoid Islam, which blames outsider "infidels" for all the ills of Muslim societies and whose proposed remedy is the closing of these societies to the rival project of modernity, is presently the fastest growing version of Islam in the world." \nWhy not blame "infidels" for the oppression of Muslim society, if it shifts the spotlight from the true oppressors? To blame acts of terror on irresponsible American foreign policy is to validate the murder of thousands of innocent people. Oppression and poverty are to blame for Sept. 11, not an overbearing America.\nA sustained military campaign will reaffirm the inherent evil of the west, especially for people who have been shielded from its true motives. Pakistanis and Palestinians hold rallies in the streets in opposition to the U.S. not because they have read the New York Times or watched the BBC and therefore have made up their minds, but rather because they have been stripped of the opportunity to make up their minds. Illegitimate governments survive based on the knowledge their populations lack. In order for their absolute power to continue, leaders like Saddam Hussein must deny their citizens the information to challenge their authority. \nThere are two sides to every story, but unfortunately for much of the Arab world they have had access to only one. Insisting upon legitimacy in world governments is the only possibility for a lasting solution to the terrorist crisis. War will not permanently destroy Islamic fundamentalist movements, information will. Starving people will no longer hate the United States if we simply show them the way to the grocery store.