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UNDERSTANDING BIN LADEN
William O. Beeman
The United States risks a severe miscalculation in dealing with the
destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon on
Tuesday. This event is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not an
"act of war." It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to metastasize.
The root cause is not terrorist activity, as has been widely stated. It is
the relationship between the United States and the Islamic world. Until this
central cancerous problem is treated, Americans will never be free from
fear.
Merely locating and hunting down a single "guilty party" in this case will
not stop future violence: such an action will not destroy the organization
of terrorist cells already established throughout the world. Of greater
importance, it will do nothing to alleviate the residual enmity against
America that will remain at large in the world, continuing to motivate
violence. The perpetrators of the original attack on the World Trade Center
in 1993 were caught and convicted. This did not stop the attack on Tuesday.
The chief suspect is the Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden or his surrogates. He
has been mischaracterized as an anti-American terrorist. He should rather be
thought of as someone who would do anything to protect Islam. Bin Laden
began his career fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979 when
he was 22 years old. He has not only resisted the Soviets but also the
Serbians in Yugoslavia. His anger was directed against the United States
primarily because of the U.S. presence in the Gulf Region, more particularly
Saudi Arabia itself, the site of the most sacred Islamic religious sites.
According to bin Laden, during the Gulf War America co-opted the rulers of
Saudi Arabia to establish a military presence in order to kill Muslims in
Iraq. In a religious decree issued in 1998, he gave religious legitimacy to
attacks on Americans in order to stop the United States from "occupying the
lands of Islam in the holiest of places." His decree also extends to
Jerusalem, where the second most sacred Muslim site: the al-Aqsa Mosque. The
depth of his historical vision is clear when, in his decree, he
characterizes Americans as "crusaders" harkening back to the Medieval
Crusades in which the Holy Lands, then occupied by Muslims, were captured by
European Christians.
He will not cease his opposition until the United States leaves the region.
Paradoxically, his strategy for convincing the United States to do so seems
drawn from the American foreign policy playbook. When the United States
disapproves of the behavior of another nation, it "turns up the heat" on
that nation through embargoes, economic sanctions or withdrawal of
diplomatic representation. In the case of Iraq following the Gulf war,
America employed military action, resulting in the loss of civilian life.
The State Department has theorized that if the people of a rogue nation
experience enough suffering, they will overthrow their rulers, or compel
them to adopt more sensible behavior. The terrorist actions in New York and
Washington are a clear and ironic implementation of this strategy against
the United States.
Bin Laden takes no credit for actions emanating from his training camps in
Afghanistan. He has no desire for self-aggrandizement. A true ideologue, he
believes that his mission is sacred, and he wants only to see clear results.
For this reason, the structure of his organization is essentially tribal
cellular in modern political terms. His followers are as fervent and intense
in their belief as he is. They carry out their actions because they believe
in the rightness of their cause, not because of bin Laden's orders or
approval. Groups are trained in Afghanistan, and then establish their own
centers in places as far-flung as Canada, Africa and Europe. Each cell is
technologically sophisticated, and may have a different set of motivations
for attacking the United States.
Palestinians members of his group see Americans as supporters of Israel in
the current conflict between the two nations. In the Palestinian view, Ariel
Sharon's ascendancy to leadership of Israel has triggered a new era, with
U.S. government officials failing to pressure the Israeli government to end
violence against Palestinians. Palestinian cell members will not cease their
opposition until the United States changes its relationship with the Israeli
state.
The Mujaheddin fighters in Lebanon also direct their hostility against
Israel and the United States. They also operate against the Maronite
Christian community in their own country, who were supported by the French
from World War I until the end of World War II. They will not cease their
operations until the region is firmly in Islamic hands.
Above all, Americans need to remember that the rest of the world has an
absolute right to self-determination that is as defensible as our own. A
despicable act of mayhem such as those committed in New York and Washington
is a measure of the revulsion that others feel at our actions that seemingly
limit those rights. If we perpetuate a cycle of hate and revenge, this
conflict will escalate into a war that our great-grandchildren will be
fighting.
________________
William O. Beeman teaches anthropology at Brown University in Providence,
Rhode Island. A specialist on Middle East Culture, he has written
extensively on fundamentalism and terrorism. He has worked for the past four
years in Tajikistan, where he has been able to monitor developments in
Afghanistan. monitor developments in Afghanistan.
Copyright 2001 William O. Beeman. This article may be distributed for any
non-commercial purpose.
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