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Tuesday, 26 September 2006 15:38 |
By JIM GENARO
In its war against terror, the United States is facing an existential threat ÇƒÓ one that parallels the confrontation with Nazism in the 1940s, according to Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney.
The retired Air Force commander and Fox News military analyst spoke at a luncheon sponsored by the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation on Sept. 19 at the Asheville Renaissance Hotel. He is the co-author of the book "Endgame: The Blueprint for the Victory in the War on Terror."
About 70 people attended the lecture, which was one of several events that have been held in Asheville by the conservative think tank.
"On
Sept 10, 2001, we didnët know it, but there was a web of terror out
there that is spread out and it has global dimensions," McInerney told
the group.
Eight countries
in the world were propagating terrorism and helping to spread that web
at the time, he said ÇƒÓ Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Syria, Saudi
Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Of those, Iraq and Afghanistan have
since undergone regime changes and Libya has abandoned its pursuit of
weapons of mass distruction, McInerney noted. The others, however,
continue to pose a threat.
The central
problem, he argued, is that Islam is in desperate need of a
reformation. While the religion has been largely taken over by
extremists, the moderates have done little to counter violent
interpretations of Islam, McInerney said.
"Their goals are
both the same ÇƒÓ that Islam goes global. The difference between the
moderates and extremists is time. The extremists want it in 20 years.
The moderates want it in 50," he told the audience.
The biggest
threat to the U.S. comes from what McInerney called "Category One"
nations ÇƒÓ those that support terrorism and pursue development of
nuclear weapons.
Iran is the most dangerous of those nations, he added, calling the country "a huge problem for us."
He said that he believed the U.S. could not afford to "go much more than a year before we have to do something" about Iran.
However,
McInerney added that elements within Saudi Arabia also pose a dire
threat, particularly in the regions where Mohammed once lived and
founded his religion.
"Mecca and
Medina is where this hate is coming from," he said. "This is where
Wahhabism ÇƒÓ this extreme perversion of Islam that wants to return to
the seventh century ÇƒÓ is being articulated."
Furthermore, he added, Saudi Arabian law forbids the preaching of other faiths ÇƒÓ and punishes offenders by beheading them.
In Pakistan,
McInerney told the assembly, 60 percent of people are extremists. Many
madrasas, or religious schools, exist in the country, teaching a
"religion of hate" that encourages violent opposition to the West, he
said.
"You hear the
term ǃÚjihadë ÇƒÓ holy war," McInerney noted. "I never use those terms.
Why would you aggrandize people and say that they are fighting a holy
war?"
The Islamic
world largely lacks five fundamental freedoms, he said ÇƒÓ freedom of
education, economic freedom, freedom of information, individual
personal rights and self-governance.
These concepts
are "fundamentally opposed to Islam," he said, adding that Muslims are
"the ones that have to adjust and make the shift. Until that is
inculcated in their society, that is going to be a problem."
McInerney argued
that the failure of President Carter to stop the Islamic revolution in
Iran was "the worst diplomatic decision that this country made in the
past 50 years. You had the first Islamic state that was accumulating
wealth and spreading it."
Iran has
supported terrorism throughout the region, he said, particularly in
Palestine. He also tied the blame for the recent confrontation between
Israel and Lebanon on the leadership in Tehran.
"Iran started the war. It gave the order to Hezbollah to capture the Israeli soldiers," McInerney claimed.
He also defended
President Bushës decision to invade Iraq, saying "Iraq is not the wrong
war. It is a tough war, just like at Normandy, just like the Battle of
the Bulge, just like at Okinawa ... The battle is tough, but that
doesnët mean itës not right."
McInerney had strong words for the United Nations, saying "the best thing we can do is turn that place into a condominium."
Instead of
diplomatic efforts to disarm Iran and other potentially dangerous
countries, threats of retaliation should be used, he argued.
"We need to tell
these nations that if one nuclear weapon goes off in this country, we
will hold them accountable ÇƒÓ in 15 minutes after one goes off here, we
will bomb them," McInerney said.
However, he added that a nuclear attack in the U.S. would have disastrous affects for American Muslims as well.
"My fear is that
if there are five million dead Americans, this country will go so far
right that there will not be a mosque left standing anywhere in this
country. I didnët serve in the Air Force for that kind of America,"
McInerney said.
Despite his
concerns about a worst-case scenario, however, McInerney said that he
saw great potential for a solution short of all-out war with Iran.
The country, he said, is "ripe for covert actions and helping opposition groups to get their country back."
Many Iranians
are opposed to the Islamic government, McInerney noted, making it
relatively easy to infiltrate and take actions that would support them
in taking power. An initial phase of targeted bombings could take out
much of the governmentës infrastructure, setting the scene for the
overthrow of the regime, he said.
"Even the C.I.A. could make this work," he joked. "Itës a 30-day operation, if we plan a year ahead."
Even domestically, Islamic fundamentalism must be fought, McInerney added.
He noted that a
predominantly Muslim community in Maryland is currently trying to pass
legislation that would make Sharia ÇƒÓ Islamic law ÇƒÓ the basis for its
laws.
Furthermore, "In
France and England, they have enclaves where Sharia law dominates and
the authorities look the other way," he said.
"We did not ask
for this fight," McInerney told the audience, adding that "thereës no
way we can lose this fight unless we lack the will to defend our
country."
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