The New York Sun March 12, 2003 Blind to Saddam's 9-11 Role By LAURIE MYLROIE
A retired American general, close to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, once explained that the single, most important element in the war against terrorism was "situational awareness" - understanding what is going on as correctly and precisely as possible. That may seem incontrovertible, but it is lacking as America goes to war with Iraq. The reasons for the war have not been explained properly,and the public is ignorant of the dangers, even as this is a war that must be fought. Iraq, along with Al Qaeda, was most probably involved in the September 11 attacks, and President Bush understands that. Already on September 17, six days later, Mr. Bush affirmed, "I believe Iraq was involved, but I'm not going to strike them now," as Bob Woodward's "Bush at War" discloses. Indeed, at Thursday's press conference, Mr. Bush said that Iraq has financed and trained Al Qaeda and similar terrorist groups. That is why Mr. Bush is willing to take the risk entailed in war against Iraq. Saddam may well try to hurt us badly, and that includes biological terrorism, which could kill many people.Tens of thousands is a modest estimate. Yet Mr. Bush is inhibited from clearly linking Iraq and Al Qaeda, let alone tying Iraq to September 11, because every time a senior official suggests such a link, leaks to the contrary, mostly anonymous, flow from those in the bureaucracies who made the mistakes that led to the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans in two hours on what was otherwise a beautiful fall morning. The last war with Iraq caused an ugly resurgence of anti-Semitism; the same is happening again. It is not rational; haters rarely are. Last time the anti-Semitism disappeared when the war proved a stunning success (except for the decision to end the war with Saddam still in power). What will happen this time, if things go awry and there are many casualties on American soil? American Jews, one would think, would have every interest in helping to ensure the war is understood properly.The war is not being fought for Israel, which would actually prefer America fight Iran. Rather, it is being fought, in the first place, to promote the safety and well-being of all American citizens,just as the president has repeatedly said, even if in the short term there could be substantial casualties. To understand that, however, one has to understand Iraq's decade-long involvement with Islamic militants in carrying out terrorist attacks against America. Here the American Jewish leadership falls very short. The lion's share of responsibility for this blunder lies with the Clinton administration, which, starting with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, promoted the notion that a new kind of terrorism had emerged that did not involve states, but was carried out by "loose networks" of militant Muslims. Every other intelligence service was dependent on America for that judgment. Every Western intelligence agency accepted it, and then became professionally attached to that assessment. Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of the nuclear submarine, famously cautioned against loving one's opinion like one's children, but that is an all too human failing, and perhaps it is particularly strong in the intelligence agencies.After all, they have more, and presumably better, information than anyone else, so how could they know less? In Israel, the issue became further confused with the quasi-messianic expectations accompanying the "peace process." A key premise of that ill-fated diplomacy was that a clear division existed between the Islamic militants and entities like Syria and the PLO. Figures like Hafiz al-Assad and Yasser Arafat, it was said, had little choice but to negotiate with Israel, given America's demonstrated strength, after its victory in the Cold War and the 1991 Gulf War. Only irrational parties, like Islamic extremists, did not recognize and act upon this new reality. That was wrong, as Israelis have painfully learned.The PLO and Hamas can be strategic rivals, but also tactical allies. And Iraq can work with Al Qaeda, as it in fact has. Yet "agendas" developed in the 1990s. These were issues promoted by the major Jewish organizations, based on the flawed understanding of the Middle East that emerged a decade ago, when Yitzhak Rabin was prime minister. Above all, these agendas focused on Iran and Islamic militants. Iraq was forgotten, reflecting a major Israeli error. Many Israelis, like Americans, are supportive of the war yet do not understand why America is going to war with Iraq. A friend of mine, retired from a high position in Israel's military intelligence, who maintains contacts with senior officials, recently asserted that the principal reason for the war is to change the Iraqi regime and make the Middle East a better, more democratic place. That is among the reasons, but the least of them. Mr. Bush is not endangering the lives of Americans, at least in the short run, to make the Middle East more hospitable to Israel. And there is no reason for Israelis, or American Jews, to bear that burden, if things go wrong. Regrettably, American Jewish organizations have seemed close-minded about Iraq's role in September 11. Not more so than the rest of the American "elite," to be sure. But that is a low standard, given the enormity of the blunder and the dangers still ahead. It is not enough to support the president in this war. One also needs "situational awareness" and that requires a rethinking of the agendas of the 1990s and the erroneous assumptions upon which they were based. Ms. Mylroie is the author of "The War Against America: Saddam Hussein and the World Trade Center Attacks."
