USA6

Roger,

I read your letter to the editor of the Bangkok Post. For the sake of our past association and friendship, I hope you read my letter to you now.

In speaking out against the United States and Israel following this latest terrorist outrage, your timing is poor to say the least. I would have thought that you, of all people, could appreciate exactly how complex the issues are in the Middle East. Your comments vis-�-vis America�s support of Israel constitute an incredible over-simplification of the issue.

If you were truly as informed as you think you are, Roger, you would realize that Ossama bin Laden�s actions have nothing to do with Israel and the Palestinians whatsoever. The raison d-etre of his organization is against the United States military presence in Saudi Arabia. As I recall, the reason why we are there is to protect several sovereign nations against the war crimes of another criminal megalomaniac, Saddam Hussein. At the same time, American lives have been put at risk, and in some cases lost, on behalf of Moslem people during our military interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo. Come to think of it, Ossama Bin Laden was trained by the United States at a time when we were training, arming and equipping the Mujahadeen in their fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. So much for American �prejudicial policy�.

I feel I can comment with some authority on the subject. Since I left ISB, joined the U.S. Army and traveled the world, I have served extensively in the Middle East; in Egypt, Israel and Kuwait. I have studied the Arabic language and the cultures of the region. During a recent unaccompanied six-month stint in Mauritania I lived amongst the Moors as one of them. I ate with my hand out of the communal bowl, drank camel milk and slept in tents with the Moorish people.

How complex are the issues? Well, for one thing, some of the wisest and best-informed people in the world decided long ago to support the State of Israel when it was clear that to do so would gain nothing for the United States or the western democracies. I believe it was Truman�s Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, who pointed out that if the United States supported the fledgling State of Israel then we would one day be paying over two dollars a gallon for gasoline. This has almost come to fruition; in fact we have already seen prices go over two dollars at certain points in time.

However, as I�m sure you are aware, western support for a Jewish state in Palestine did not start arbitrarily in 1948. This has been a theme of western powers since the end of the Crusades that was finally codified in the Balfour Proclamation, around the end of the nineteenth century.

And it�s not as if we handed the Israelis their country on a platter as a sort of consolation prize for the horrors of the holocaust, as you have suggested. Those people fought for and earned their country, going up against not only the Arabs, who outnumber them more than ten-to-one, but also the British Empire, which met them on the beaches north of Tel Aviv with fixed bayonets. I�ve visited those beaches; I�ve seen the boats that they came over in and the memorials that are there.

On top of all that, the Israeli people have had to fight a series of wars for over fifty years that go on to this very day against the combined might of the Arab countries. The Palestinians, with their allies, have had ample opportunity over the decades to wipe the L�etat Juif from the face of the Earth. In recent years a small group of fanatics have embraced terrorism, committing horrific crimes in the name of all the Palestinian people. Their actions, however, do nothing to enhance the legitimacy of the Palestinian cause. Unless, of course, one agrees with Hitler�s Nazis in that �the end justifies the means�.

Many critics of Israel point out that Menachim Begin was a terrorist, that as a member of the Stern Gang he threw bombs. To set the record straight, Menachim Begin never did anything that George Washington didn�t do. What he did was conduct guerrilla warfare against the British forces occupying what was then Palestine. What�s the difference, one may ask? Here we come to the crux of the issue. In a guerrilla operation, one is merely soldiering by other means, but the laws of land warfare still are in effect. Guerrillas wear uniforms of some form, or identifying badges, and they direct their efforts against genuine military targets. To do otherwise they can be held accountable for their actions under international law and accords. Terrorists, on the other hand, purposely target innocent civilians. They kill, maim and destroy, not with the intent to achieve military objectives but to influence society through sheer terror, pure and simple.

All this is history that we are all familiar with. It is a complex issue, as I have already pointed out. What was America supposed to do in 1948? Sit back and allow a second holocaust to occur?

You taught us tolerance and understanding, Roger. Now look who you�re siding with: people like Ossama bin Laden, Mohammar Khaddafi, Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, the Bauder-Meinhoff Gang, and the Japanese Red Army, to name a few. These people do not represent the purity of vision of Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. These people embrace violence, pure and simple. Remember, when our President shook hands with Arafat, and the Nobel Peace prize was awarded to him, all that was achieved was a continuation of Arafat�s written policies to wipe out the State of Israel by any means necessary. This thing is not about the Palestinian people or their tragic plight. It is about raw power. Criminal power. Power, to quote Mao, out of the muzzle of a gun. Kill one, Mao said, and strike fear into the hearts of ten thousand.

In recent years, America has decried recent Russian and Israeli military actions against terrorism in Chechniya, Gaza and the West Bank. Now those two countries look at us and say, �See? Now you know. Now you know that there is no other way to fight these people. It is all they understand . . .�

Now is not the time for cynical cheap shots. A horror has been visited upon the world; these recent attacks are but the latest in a long series of outrages that have been going on for at least thirty years. True, America is not without some hand in the setting of the world stage, but now is hardly the time to speak disparagingly. During these difficult days we must have faith, we must have a sense of cool-headedness, we must all come together with a sense of purpose. Now is the time to be inspired by the words and actions of past leaders and heroes who had the courage to stand up and lead us through past times of darkness, desperation and fear. Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan come to mind, to name a few.

In the thirties and the forties we fought and succeeded in shutting down the fascist war machine. After a decades-long Cold War we finally put communism out of business, when many thought it could never be done. A lot of American blood was spilled and lives were sacrificed in the name of freedom to achieve these aims. Now we must present a united front, because, whether we like it or not, we are embarking upon a war to end this latest evil once and for all.

If only you knew, Roger, how many times I�ve defended you against your detractors in the past. If only you knew. But now I�m afraid that I must sadly agree with them. It seems that I�ve been an extremely poor a judge of character.

Sincerely,
Peter J. Crittenden