Osama Bin Laden

By JOHN NORTH

Marc Garlasco, the senior military analyst for Human Rights Watch, fielded questions for 35 minutes on Sept. 15, following his address on “Acts of Conscience” in UNC Asheville’s Owen Conference Center.

The program launched the 2008-09 Great Decisions lecture series, sponsored by World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina. Garlasco is a former senior analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense.

A woman asked, “How are you funded” at HRW?

“All of our money either comes from foundations or private donors,” Garlasco replied. He added that HRW has 270 staffers in around 70 countries.

A man asked, “What laws are countries violating when they use cluster bombs?”

“The Geneva Conventions,” Garlasco answered. He noted that distinction and proportionality are critical elements in the analysis.

In a follow-up, the man asked, “What countries have been violating” the cluster-bomb prohibitions?

“Well,” Garlasco said, “the largest single user, historically, has been the United States,” which made the most use of the munitions during the wars in Vietnam and Laos.

However, he added that the U.S. also is “the bigger remover of cluster bombs.”

A woman asked, “What’s a cluster bomb?”

There are two kinds that predominate, Garlasco replied, including one that is nearly two feet long and one that is the size of a cellphone. “They’re very dangerous — and, hopefully, we won’t see them used again,” he said.

A man asked Garlasco to talk about U.S. violations involving the use of cluster bombs.

The military analyst noted that, despite the U.S.’ usage of the bombs, “once you have the majority of nations on board, we think this is important” to eventually achieving a worldwide ban.

A man asked what deterrence HRW can exert on countries to follow its recommendations.

“We have no troops,” Garlasco replied. “Our power is the press, via embarrassment from our reports to get” offending countries to change their ways.

He added that “we can testify before the United Nations about our findings.”

A male student asked, “Regarding the Georgia-Russia crisis, who was at fault?”

“We, as an organization, do not have a perspective” on such broad issues, Garlasco said, regarding HRW.

“But my personal perspective is that both sides helped each other out on it,” thereby sharing the blame to some extent. “I’d be glad to talk to you further on it afterward.”

A man asked if Garlasco saw any role for the U.N., considering HRW’s efforts.

Laughing, Garlasco said, “I’m almost a war tourist.”

More seriously, he said the U.N. fulfills a vital role, providing peacekeeping forces, money and expertise. Howeever, he also said, “Personally, I think they’re a little slow to respond in some instances.” Garlasco quickly added that such tardiness tends to be characteristic of large bureaucracies.

A woman asked about HRW’s review of the Afghan civilian casualty report.

“Quicky and dirty — there’s no one silver bullet,” Garlasco said. “Clearly, the Taliban is shielding.”

He also said there are two wars being fought in Afghanistan simultaneously — one as a U.S. counter-terrorism mission and the other as an effort by NATO forces. “There’s not a lot of cross-talk going on” between the two forces, both led by U.S. commanders, Garlasco said.

A man asked about Osama Bin Laden — “what are your personal thoughts on why the United States hasn’t been able to kill him?”

“Why haven’t we killed him?” Garlasco repeated. “It’s real simple — it’s more difficult to kill someone with aerial weapons than anyone thinks. It is not easy to find one person, when they don’t want to be found ... People have a belief that almighty technology will take care of the problem.”

A man asked, “Do you believe the administration ‘doctored’ the evidence to make the case for weapons of mass destruction?”

“Yes,” Garlasco replied. “You can’t go off of raw intelligence.” He then recommended that those interested in learning further about the situation read a book titled “Curveball,” which he termed the story of an Iraqi defector with no credibility. Garlasco contended that the defector “became the basis of everything (Vice President Dick) Cheney put together” to justify the war with Iraq. (The 2007 book’s author is Bob Drogin.)

A man asked if there are any prohibitions on the use of landmines.

“Yes,” Garlasco answered, noting that there is a treaty involving many countries, but “the U.S. is not on board yet,” as with cluster bombs. In fact, he said all of NATO’s members have signed the treaty, except for four countries.

A female student asked, “What do you do if countries fail to avide by treaties?”

“We report it, document it and embarrass them,” Garlasco replied. With a laugh, he noted, “I’m in the Emergencies Division” of HRW.

A male student asked, “What can students do to be involved?”

“We have the Young Advocates” group, Garlasco said. “They’re Human Rights Watch advocates’ ‘cells.’”

Another male student asked, “Why has the U.S. government not signed up for the landmine bill.”
“South Korea in the Demilitirized Zone,” Garlasco said. “The U.S. has been in compiance since 1997,” in not using landmines. “The problem is, we’re in support of South Korea,” which uses landmines in the DMZ.

A man speculated that Garlasco’s lecture confirms his suspicion that the level of experience of advisors to the U.S. government on Middle East affairs was lacking, based on his lack of fluency in Arabic and no specific training in the culture.

Garlasco noted that “folks like myself tend to gravitate to places where they pay you a whole lot of money,” such as Wall Street, but that he chose to avoid that path.

Further, he said that, “even if you had people in the positions who had knowledge of the language and culture,” Garlasco doubted that agenda-driven U.S. government officials would have heeded their advice.

He also lamented that “we’re working with an intelligence structure set up in the Cold War,” immediately following World War II.

A woman asked how Garlasco teaches his children about the world.

Noting that he and his wife have two girls, ages 5 and 7, Garlasco said, “It’s tough ....