Daily Alert Archives

Our Worsening Terrorism Problem

(Washington Post) David Ignatius - By toppling the cruelly repressive regime of Saddam Hussein, the U.S. turned Iraq into a new breeding ground for jihadists. We all hope American and Iraqi forces will contain the insurgency there, but what happens then? The answer, unfortunately, is that the terrorists go elsewhere. In the short run, prying the lid off a tightly controlled society such as Iraq may actually make the terrorism problem worse. The cruel instruments of repression are gone, while the constraints of an orderly, law-abiding, democratic society are not yet present. That's why the proper goal in these changing societies isn't simply democracy but the rule of law. Last month, Jordan's King Abdullah removed his intelligence chief, Saad Kheir, as part of his effort to push for democratic reforms. But Kheir was also one of the wiliest anti-terrorism operators in the world, whose agents had broken a string of al-Qaeda plots against the U.S. and Jordan. Will a more democratic Jordan be as useful an ally in the fight against terrorism?
2005-07-01 00:00:00
Full Article