434 • 21 THE WAR ON TERRORISMReview, the New Republic, and Sun Yung Moon's Washington Times. Many
evangelical Christians support these groups because of their belief that all
Jews must be gathered in Israel before the Final Day of Judgment.
Most Americans agree that Washington should promote American val¬
ues and defend US interests. It is less likely that they also favor unilaterally
toppling Syria's government or invading Iraq as part of a neoconservative
drive to spread democracy throughout the Middle East. Prior to the 2000
election, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney had been oil company execu¬
tives eager to preserve access to Middle Eastern oil, an ongoing US interest,
but both were susceptible to neoconservative appeals to fight terrorism by
spreading American influence and dominance, which they called freedom
and democracy. Upon his election, Bush largely ignored outgoing President
Clinton's warning about the threat from al-Qa'ida, focusing instead on
Saddam's Iraq with its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Their imag¬
ined threat to the US could easily be impressed on the Americans; the neo-
conservatives' desire to strengthen its alliance with Israel was a tougher sell.
Soon after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Penta¬
gon, the US government began preparing for an invasion of Afghanistan to
capture Osama bin Laden and al-Qa'ida's training camps. Many other
countries offered to cooperate with the Bush administration against this
terrorist threat, which was palpable to the European and Asian govern¬
ments, and the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan were carried out by
a coalition of countries, notably including Pakistan, which had formerly
backed the Taliban. The Taliban regime fled from Kabul, and a new regime
was cobbled together with Muhammad Zahir Shah as king and Hamid
Karzai as prime minister. Although the country has not been truly united, it
did manage to convene a tribal conclave (loya jirga) in 2003 and hold elec¬
tions in 2004.
History students know that neither Britain nor Russia ever managed to
subdue the Afghans. In many other Asian and African countries the Bush
administration allied itself with Muslim (and non-Muslim) rulers against
insurgent groups linked to al-Qa'ida. These military and diplomatic efforts
constitute the "War on Terrorism." This slogan or policy enjoyed wide
acceptance among Americans and Europeans, though it is doubtful that
"terrorism" can be defeated by bombing cities and sending in troops. Alter¬
native strategies include strengthening police, covertly arming the terror¬
ists' local rivals, diplomacy, and removing the conditions that allow it to
flourish as a method or as a doctrine.
Americans should not assume that acts of resistance to their political am¬
bitions necessarily constitute terrorism. If they truly want access to re¬
sources, markets for their agricultural and manufactured products, political