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The Terrorist
Attack on America: Background
Foreign Affairs is making available previously published
articles that contribute to an understanding of the tragic attacks
on New York and Washington. Several of the essays analyze the nature
of contemporary terrorism and the capabilities of the United States
to combat it. Other essays provide the Middle Eastern and radical
Islamic contexts for so much recent terrorism, including,
apparently, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.
Pakistan's
Jihad Culture, Jessica
Stern
(November/December 2000);)
Radical
Islamic groups, strongly represented in the Pakistani military and
tacitly supported by the government, are destabilizing the country
and the region and providing critical support to the Taliban regime
in neighboring Afghanistan.
"By facilitating the activities of the irregulars in Kashmir, the
Pakistani government is inadvertently promoting internal
sectarianism, supporting international terrorists, weakening the
prospect for peace in Kashmir, damaging Pakistan's international
image, spreading a narrow and violent version of Islam throughtout
the region, and increasing tensions with India--- all against the
interest of Pakistan as a whole."
The
New Threat of Mass Destruction, Richard
K. Betts
(January/February 1998)
A prescient
discussion of the dangers of terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland
and our failure to protect against them.
"[The most] worrisome danger [is] that mass
destruction will occur in the United States, killing large numbers
of civilians. The primary risk is not that enemies might lob some
nuclear or chemical weapons at U.S. armored ships or battalions,
awful as that would be. Rather, it is that they might attempt to
punish the United States by triggering catastrophes in American
cities. But retaliation requires knowledge of who has launched an
attack. Today some groups may wish to punish the United States
without taking credit for the action."
Catastrophic
Terrorism: Tackling the New Danger
Ashton
Carter, John Deutch, and Philip Zelikow
(November/December
1998)
Describes
the deadly new forms of terrorism, the reasons for targeting America
and what will be required to combat the new threats.
"As the 1993 World Trade Center incident demonstrated, a
terrorist group can include U.S. citizens and foreign nationals,
operating and moving materials in and out of American territory over
long periods of time. The greatest danger may arise from overlapping
jurisdictions, such as the divide between 'foreign' and 'domestic
terrorism' or 'law enforcement' versus 'national security'. … The
U.S. government must create unglamorous but effective systems for
accountable decision-making that combine civil, military, and
intelligence expertise through the chain of command; integrate
planning and operational activity; build up institutional
capacities; and highlight defensive needs before an incident
happens."
Keeping
America's Military Edge, Ashton
B. Carter
(January/February
2001)
Proposes changes in
the national security establishment to meet new missions, ranging
from peacekeeping to dealing with terrorism.
"Today, some of the most critical security missions ---
counterterrorism, combating WMD proliferation, homeland defense,
information warfare, peacekeeping, civil reconstruction, and
conflict prevention … are accomplished in an ad-hoc fashion by
unwieldy combinations of departments and agencies designed a
half-century ago for a different world."
Beyond
Border Control, Stephen
E. Flynn
(November/December
2000)
Argues that the
global economy has opened national borders to goods and people,
legal and illegal; terrorists and their weapons enjoy easier passage
than ever before. Corporations and governments must work together,
developing new technologies and techniques to help border control
keep pace with booming commerce.
"Last December, as year 2000 celebrations approached, Americans
got a case of the pre-holiday jitters when news broke that an
Algerian terrorist with suspected ties with Osama bin Laden had been
arrested in Port Angeles, Washington. Ahmed Ressam had arrived in
the United States from Vancouver in a car loaded with bomb-making
materials. Only a U.S. Customs Service official's unease with the
way Ressam answered her questions prevented him from driving onto
American soil. What was most surprising about Ressam's arrest was
that he was detected and apprehended at all -- one man amid the 475
million people, 125 million vehicles, and 21.4 million import
shipments that came into the country last year.... Intercepting the
ripples of danger in this tidal wave of commerce is about as likely
as winning a lottery."
The
Taliban: Exporting Extremism, Ahmed
Rashid
(November/December
1999)
Discusses how
radical Islam and repressive politics are gaining ground in one of
the world's most sensitive regions. As they consolidate their power
over Afghanistan, the Taliban are starting to destabilize the entire
surrounding area -- and beyond.
"Striking up a friendship with Umar, the Taliban chief, [Osama]
bin Ladin moved to Umar's base in Khandahar in early 1997. Bin Ladin
reunited and rearmed the Arab militants still remaining in
Afghanistan after the war against the Soviets.... Umar was quickly
influenced by his new friend and became increasingly vociferous in
his attacks on Americans.... Recent Taliban statements reflect a bin
Ladin-style outrage, defiance, and pan-Islamism that the Taliban had
never used before his arrival."
License
to Kill, Bernard
Lewis
(November/December
1998)
A
little-noticed declaration of jihad by Osama bin Laden in an Arabic
newspaper underscores the Islamist's main grievance: U.S. troops in
Arabia.
"For Muslims…the holy land par excellence is Arabia…. Muhammad
lived and died in Arabia…. the center of the Islamic world and the
scene of its major achievements was Iraq, the seat of the caliphate
for a half a millennium. For Muslims, no piece of land can ever be
finally renounced, but none compares in significance with Arabia and
Iraq."
Reviews of Related Books
America's
Achilles' Heel: Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Terrorism and
Covert Attack. By
Richard A. Falkenrath, Robert D. Newman, and Bradley A. Thayer
Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998
Terrorism
and America: A Commonsense Strategy for a Democratic Society.
By
Philip B. Heymann. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998
Inside
Terrorism. By
Bruce Hoffman. New York: Columbia University Press,
1998
Terrorism
with Chemical and Biological Weapons: Calibrating Risks and
Responses. Edited
by Brad Roberts. Alexandria, Va.: Chemical and Biological Arms
Control Institute, 1997
The
Ultimate Terrorists. By
Jessica Stern. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1999
Fundamentalism
Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban. Edited
by William Maley. New York: New York University Press, 1998
Preventive
Defense: A New Security Strategy for America. By
Ashton B. Carter and William James Perry. Washington: Brookings
Institution Press, 1999
Toxic
Terror: Assessing Terrorist Use of Chemical and Biological
Weapons. Edited
by Jonathan B. Tucker. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000
Taliban:
Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia.
By
Ahmed Rashid. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000
The
Greatest Threat: Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Growing
Crisis of Global Security. By
Richard Butler. New York: PublicAffairs, 2000
Planning
the Unthinkable: How New Powers Will Use Nuclear, Chemical, and
Biological Weapons. Edited
by Peter Lavoy, Scott D. Sagan, and James J. Wirtz. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press, 2000
Road
Map for National Security: Imperative for Change. By
the U.S. Commission for National Security/21st Century.
Terrorism
and U.S. Foreign Policy. By
Paul R. Pillar. Washington: Brookings Institution Press
2001 | 
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