Terror

This is a time to speak quietly and act carefully…firmly, inventively, boldly, but above all carefully. With all Americans, with decent people the world over, we mourn the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. By the time you read these words, more will be known than we know now about the number of the dead—probably also about the identity of their murderers. Perhaps the U.S. government will have mounted a military response. We can only write prospectively: how should we respond to this barbaric act?

The first thing to say is that there is no way to match the spectacle of the attack, and no good reason to try. A massive response might be theatrically appropriate; it won’t be morally, politically, diplomatically, or even militarily appropriate. We need an anti-terrorism program that is measured and sustained over time. We need a program that is plausibly addressed to our real enemies, who do not have a street address or a central headquarters or an army or a capital city.

Who are they? They claim to act for the oppressed, against their oppressors; for the “South,” against the “North”; for the world’s poor, against the forces of global capitalism. All these claims are false. There are plenty of people in the world today who need a left politics, but terrorism is not that politics. It is not intended to be a left politics, and men and women on the left should actively repudiate apologists for terrorism—those who say, “Of course, it is wrong to kill the innocent, but you have to consider the frustration of these people…” No buts. Terrorists are parasitic on oppression; they are not friends of the oppressed.

These terrorists are a new kind of force. They represent the basest religious and political emotions. Doctrinally, they are reactionary, fundamentalist, repressive; they are hostile to liberal values and universal human rights. But they make brilliant use of the most advanced technologies and, despite their parochial commitments, they operate effectively in a global environment. They are organized in cells and networks, not in brigades and hierarchies. They make coordinated and sophisticated plans, but they don’t need a Pentagon of their own to do that; a few basements, a few living rooms, with computers running, are enough. So terrorism has to be fought cell by cell: resolution and stamina are necessary; intelligence and police work, not military posturing.

Diplomacy is necessary too. This should not be America’s war alone; we need a little help from our friends—even from our near-friends, political rivals, and economic competitors. We should work to assemble the largest possible coalition, so that states that provide refuge and support for the terrorist networks can be ostracized, embargoed, blockaded. In the immediate aftermath of September 11, political leaders around the world are pretending that terrorism has no supporters. In fact, it ha...