It's been more than a week since the terrorist attack, and the full magnitude of what is happening still hasn't sunk into our national consciousness. As the United States begins its revenge, we should reflect on the fact that these terrorists - guerilla fighters of the most cowardly sort - planned and executed this operation over a long period. This was not a sudden decision on their part. They were thinking ahead, looking at the big picture. This small group of fanatics had more foresight than we as a nation have shown in a long time.
It seems as though, ever since the end of World War II, we have stopped planning. There have been massive projects, such as the space program, that we've undertaken, but as far as our politics, military and especially foreign policy is concerned, we've been making it up day to day ever since the 1940s.
If last week's terrorist attacks tell us one thing, it's that this kind of myopia is deadly. As we contemplate war with Afghanistan, we should take a moment to look around and really think about what we intend to do.
Firing a few cruise missiles into Afghanistan, the Clinton approach, is out of the question. Such attacks don't really hurt the terrorists and are much more likely to harm civilians.
We can't take a Gulf War approach this time - if we aren't willing to finish the job, we may as well not even bother. Neither can we go for the Vietnam approach, where we dedicate far too few men and resources for a task, and then put severe limitations on their actions. That will only lead to another disaster.
We need to look farther back in our history, to a time when we not only defeated our enemies but also prevented them from ever attacking us again. Moreover, we have done this.
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However, it takes a willingness, that many Americans have forgotten, to think in the long-term. Many here will protest our "imperialism." We must to be sure that if we sacrifice American lives in Afghanistan, it is the last time we ever have to do it.
Whether it is imperialism, there is only one course of action that will both remove Afghanistan as a threat and bring it back into the community of nations as a productive and free nation. We need a Marshall Plan for Afghanistan.
After the dust had begun to settle in Germany and Japan, decisions about what to do with them had to be made. Clearly, they could not be left independent but impoverished - that method was imposed on Germany after the first World War, and all it did was ensure the second World War. Japan's meteoric rise from a "medieval island" to a globe-spanning empire showed they would not be easily cowed.
Instead, new governments, based on the principles of democracy and free enterprise were established. This is what we should do with Afghanistan, and any other nations that need it.
United States tax dollars flooded into both nations, rebuilding them and putting them on the path to peaceful coexistence. There was no nation more completely alien or hostile to the United States than Imperial Japan. Now however, Japan and Germany are not only an economic powerhouse, they are peaceful, productive and wealthy. Germany is the financial center of Europe and a European Union lynchpin.
Imagine Afghanistan in twenty years under such a plan: peaceful, productive, rich, and a powerful United States ally. Though it may seem desolate, Afghanistan has natural resources that can be exploited for the benefit of its people.
Funding to help them build decent transportation and communications infrastructures would be pocket change for the U.S. and its allies. The Taliban and other Islamic fundamentalist groups make up only a small portion of the Afghani population. The vast majority of the country's population would have little trouble accepting our aid and would repay us with their gratitude and their allegiance.
As we reach out to bring Osama bin Laden and his associates to justice, lets not stop at just throwing them in jail or blowing up a few training camps. The Taliban will never stop harboring anti-U.S. terrorists as long as it is in power, and its own abuse of Afghanistan will go on as long as we allow it.
Why are we so reluctant to implement the obvious solution?
The United States cries out for justice; the people of Afghanistan cry out for relief. The only thing standing in the way of both is the Taliban.
Isn't it time Afghanistan had a new government, one that sees things our way?
by Craig A. Butler
Daily Lobo Columnist
