09/20/2000

EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10141

HAASS ON FIGHTING TERRORISM

"There can be no exit strategy in the war against terrorism," said Richard Haass, director of policy planning at the U.S. State Department. That means the U.S. and its coalition partners must develop new strategies to root out terrorists.

First and foremost, countries around the world need to remain united in the war against terrorism. The al-Qaida network operates in some sixty countries. There is no way the U.S. alone can be present everywhere to deny it funding, or to find it and destroy it. Twenty countries have provided direct military support for the U.S. operations against al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Nearly that many are participating in the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Over one-hundred sixty countries have frozen a total of more than one-hundred million dollars in assets of terrorists and their supporters. Although there will be occasions when the U.S. will have to act alone, Mr. Haass said, "collective efforts need to be the norm, not the exception, if we are to successfully" put down the terrorist threat.

Sovereignty provides no protection for governments that carry out or abet terrorist acts. In the wake of the September 11^th attacks, the United States was completely justified in ousting the Taleban regime in Afghanistan for harboring and supporting the al-Qaida terrorists who were responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Deterrence has little relevance for groups like al-Qaida. Terrorists have no constituencies to defend, no borders to protect, and no traditional national assets to preserve. Similarly, deterrence and containment may prove inadequate for dealing with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein -- a man who has repeatedly violated United Nations Security Council resolutions. He is also doing everything in his power to develop weapons of mass destruction. As Mr. Haass said, "Given Saddam’s history of violence against his neighbors and his own people -- including the use of chemical weapons -- and his aggressive pursuit of nuclear and other weapons, the dangers of inaction outweigh the costs of action."

The task ahead is enormous and is open-ended. No nation can afford to be complacent about the threat of terrorism or the effort it will take to successfully end it.