Know your enemy! or lose war on terrorism

Jack Kelly’s view of key US policy makers and intelligence gatherers troubling “Ignorance about the enemy” (Dec. 15, 2006) is accurate and Nathan Fletcher’s “Letters” comment calling for the resignation of Representative Reyes due to his obvious and lethal ignorance is also laudable. But, Mr. Kelly’s suggestion that “our education should have begun on September 11, 2001” is laughable.

As early as 1997 the news pages of the Washington Times was educating its readers about the links between US “interventionist” military policy around the world and the growth of terrorism against Americans. Reporting on a CATO Institute study that year your paper informed us that of approximately 50 terrorist attacks against Americans in the previous ten years, all but two were a direct response to US military intervention abroad. Even your reporting on Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City made it clear that his mass murderous actions were in response to what he saw as excessive US government intervention at WACO and Ruby Ridge.

Given this indisputable history its painstaking to see the Washington Times editorial writers match the ignorance of other policy makers, ‘experts’, and military leaders in calling for “additional troops” to quell the violence in Iraq. If they were calling for additional Muslim troops they might have a real leg to stand on. Putting more US troops into that region of the world will only result in tens of thousands of US soldiers and innocent Muslims not having any real legs to stand on. But, advocates of ‘more troops’ are calling for more US troops.

We are not losing in Iraq but putting more US troops into the MiddleEast is a sure way of moving us that much closer to losing the nation building process there and even the larger global war against terrorism.