When I read the news on Twitter — about 45 minutes before President Barack Obama gave the official word — that U.S. forces had killed the world’s most infamous terrorist leader, I admit I was elated.
I felt the same as the thousands of people who gathered on the White House lawn and at Ground Zero felt. But then reality started to creep back into my rational mind.
Those reveling in the catharsis of the United States’ revenge need to understand one critical point: Osama bin Laden was a direct byproduct of U.S. foreign policy. Understanding this is key to ending the disastrous War on Terror and avoiding endless war in the future.
I was first educated about bin Laden’s origins and reasons for attacking the U.S. when I covered a speech given at OU by Michael Scheuer, the head of the CIA’s bin Laden tracking unit from 1996 to 1999 and adviser to the unit from 2001 to 2004.
Scheuer devoted his years to understanding the al-Qaida leader and the message he delivered was one I didn’t normally get from the mainstream media.
“It is likely that the maintenance of Washington’s prevailing assumption that Muslims hate Americans for who we are and how we live, rather than what the [U.S.] government does in the Islamic world, will lead to nothing less than a vast and willful case of self-deception that ultimately will yield calamity for the nation,” Scheuer said.
Directly motivating bin Laden’s enmity toward the U.S. were:
• the presence of U.S. forces in the Arabian Peninsula
• the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan
• U.S. political pressure on Arab states to keep oil prices low
• U.S. support for tyrannical governments in Muslim countries
• and blind U.S. support of Israel and indifference to Palestinian Arabs.
It may come as a surprise that bin Laden, during President Ronald Reagan’s administration, was an ally to the U.S. during the Cold War. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Reagan expanded the funding and CIA training of guerrilla fighters — whom Reagan called “freedom fighters.” Many of these freedom fighters, it turned out, were radical Islamic fundamentalists who would use the money and arms the U.S. gave them against us later.
Before bin Laden targeted the U.S., he and his radical Islamic followers were focused on the “near enemy” — the tyrannical U.S.-backed governments in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and the Sudan. He wanted the Middle East to be ruled under a medieval Islamic caliphate.
Another key to understanding bin Laden’s militant anger is U.S. support of Israel. After World War I, Britain had conquered Palestine and was given the responsibility of partitioning the territory under the League of Nations Mandate. Zionist influence in Britain’s Mandate of Palestine also established a national homeland for the Jewish people, leading to the ethnic cleansing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Muslims and Christians. Following the Holocaust and Israel’s establishment in 1948, the U.S. took the lead in supporting Israel.
When Iraq — under the brutal, secular leadership of Saddam Hussein — invaded Kuwait in 1990, bin Laden told Saudi Arabian King Fahd that he and his holy warriors succeeded in driving out the godless Soviets from Afghanistan and could do the same to Hussein’s forces.
Fahd however enlisted the help of U.S. forces — whom bin Laden considered infidels. Realizing the dictatorships in the Middle East were so powerful because they were backed by the U.S., and Palestinian Arabs were suffering as a direct result of U.S. support for Israel, bin Laden focused his efforts on drawing the U.S. to the Middle East. He knew if he could engage the U.S. in a long, drawn out war, it would bring sympathy to his cause. President George W. Bush was more than willing to comply.
After orchestrating a number of terrorist attacks against U.S. embassies in East Africa and the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen — attacks that killed hundreds — bin Laden finally got what he wanted after helping orchestrate the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The attacks brought bin Laden to the forefront of Americans’ consciousness, and it was clear he and his network in Afghanistan needed to be exterminated. However, the Bush administration had little interest in destroying al-Qaida or capturing bin Laden.
With a cabinet full of former members of the Project for a New American Century, which streamlined the neoconservative ideology of spreading American hegemony through military domination abroad, Bush’s focus immediately began shifting from capturing bin Laden and toppling the Taliban and the al-Qaida network in Afghanistan to toppling Iraq — a country that was in no way involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Had Bush focused military efforts solely on bin Laden and al-Qaida, bin Laden would probably have been disposed of years ago. Instead, Bush lied to the American public and pursued an imperialist agenda in Iraq that resulted in widespread sectarian violence, a surge in al-Qaida recruits and the deaths of thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians.
The Iraq War remains to be one of the greatest lies perpetrated on the American public and the scourge of the Bush administration.
Obama was right to shift focus from Iraq back to Afghanistan, and his decision to carry out a small, focused mission succeeded in completing a job in two years that Bush couldn’t accomplish in eight.
Bin Laden was a resistance fighter to the oppressive U.S.-backed tyrannies in the Middle East, but his ideology of violence and terror failed to topple any regime. Indeed, the wake of peaceful pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East accomplished what bin Laden never did: ousting the despots in Tunisia and Egypt.
However, these Arabs didn’t take down their governments because they want another Islamic caliphate; they did it for freedom and democracy and their struggle continues in Syria, Libya, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
These are the forces that will ultimately destroy terrorism, not violent U.S. military intervention. Instead of building nations with military force or backing oppressive regimes, Obama should get behind the pro-democracy movements and support a new era of U.S.-Arab relations.
Also, Obama must be willing to reconsider America’s relationship with Israel, which has brutalized its Palestinian neighbors, demolishing homes and expanding illegal settlements in their territory.
In September, the U.N. will consider declaring a sovereign Palestinian state. Obama should get behind this initiative and allow the Palestinians the right to their own government. If he doesn’t, anti-American sentiment will continue to permeate the Middle East.
Students should keep an eye on these events and remember the past. If students look at the War on Terror simply as a good-vs.-evil battle rather than consider U.S. foreign policy and its complex history, our nation is doomed to repeating the same mistakes.
— Jared Rader, journalism and Chinese junior
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demetrius 1 year ago
very nice article. writer is clearly educated on the subject and does not perpetuate the lies our government had enough audacity to push on us
FedUp 1 year ago
I would like to point out that our support for these tyrannical governments was only because they were stable, not for any other reason, stable governments do not usually host terrorists, or cause wars, and they are good for buisness, but now that the people of these governments have risen up in a fight for their freedom, we must make sure to support these movements as long as they still support freedom.
MSrob 1 year ago
Though I appreciate the author’s ideals and beliefs, I think it’s dangerous and naive to ONLY blame the USA and our actions for the hatred that is directed at us. Advocating for this position is like arguing that racism towards Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims, or any other group is only the product of the actions of those communities. There is a hatred of America and the West in the Arab and Muslim world that will only be quenched by the complete and utter metamorphosis of our cultures, societies and values. If you don’t believe me, read Muslim and Arab press, blogs, political philosophy, and holy book.
The proposed “solution” to the problem of Islamic fundamentalism is entirely too reminiscent of the Munich Agreement where the Western powers were “willing to reconsider” their commitment to Czechoslovakia in order to guarantee “peace in our time”. I am not necessary saying that the United States should (or could) block the UN from recognizing an independent Palestinian state. I mealy think that the author’s prospective is overly simplistic and could lead to more hatred rather than peace.
As for the support for the Arab revolutions--proceed with caution. History has shown us time and time again (Iran 1979, Cuba 1958-1959, Libya 1969, Iraq 1963, Brazil 1964) that the toppling of a dictator often times does not lead to democracy. I do think we should support the overthrough of these tyrannical governments, but I think that without western intervention and/or direction (a cause for hate towards us) these revolutions could simply replace one tyrant with another.
I appreciate Mr. Rader’s prospective, but I fear that it would jeopardize our values and security and produce no real gains.
soonerfreak 1 year ago
Ok first saying this was something Obama did in two years when Bush couldn't do in eight is ignorant. This happened when the intelligence community had the evidence. This strain of events that lead to his death happened with a terrorist caught under Bush. Obama didn't do this the CIA and Military did this. Also here a article http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-593985 with quotes from Mathilde Redmatn who is the deputy director of the red cross in the Gaza strip. I think this one quote sums it up nicely ""There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza," she explains."If you go to the supermarket, there are products. There are restaurants and a nice beach. The problem is mainly in maintenance of infrastructure and in access to goods, concrete for example. But above all, it is important to remember that the Israeli army has the right to protect the civilian population in its country. Israel is also hurt on a daily basis by violations of international law by Hamas." Defeating this attack you take on Israel. The US must stand up for Israel because so many are willing to throw away the facts and just hate them. I do not agree with all of our polices in the middle east but things such as the blind attacks on Israel and giving the credit to Obama when it needs to go to those that got the job done really rub me the wrong way.
Arafat 1 year ago
It's NEVER Islam's fault, or at least per Jared's twisted logic.
First blame America, then Israel, then colonialism, then imperialism, but never Islam.
Even though Muslims are creating problems in southern Thailand, Kashmir, India and Pakistan, against Christians in Malaysia and Indonesia, in Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, against the Copts in Alexandria, Libya, Algeria, Iran, southern Russia, NW China, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia (a Muslim paradise of repression), Yemen, Syria, Lebanon (whoopee now Hezbollah has its own man as prime minister), Turkey (Iran's latest ally and backer), Iraq (good luck to the Christians in Mosul), it is never their fault. America done did it, or Israel, imperialism and colonialism.
Let's ignore the fact that Mohammed (in case you don't know him he is Islam's prophet) was a leader.
And this is how he led: Brutality, sadistically, with repression and fear, he enslaved women, men and children, he raped and pillaged his way to wealth, he ruled, judged and preached all at once.
Jesus said, "leave unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God..."
Well Mohammed's example says it all. It also explains why wherever we see Islam we see issues of repression, lack of freedoms, wars and violence.
But all this is besides the point. It's simply America's fault.