A View From Israel: Learning the lessons
A View From Israel: Learning the le…JPost – Magazine – Features.
Photo by: Reuters
In July 2001, former CIA director George J. Tenet called former national security adviser Condoleezza Rice for an emergency meeting. He had concrete information that al-Qaida would strike US interests, possibly within the US, and he wanted her to take the information to the president to see what could be done to prevent such an attack.
Apparently, the urgency of the message was not relayed, nothing was done about it and not long after, the US was four airplanes and two towers too late.
The resulting 9/11 Commission Report stated that “the 9/11 attacks were a shock, but they should not have come as a surprise. Islamic extremists had given plenty of warnings that they meant to kill Americans indiscriminately and in large numbers.”
In 2004, the White House’s former counter-terrorism coordinator blasted George W. Bush, saying the president had ignored warnings about terrorist attacks before 9/11.
“He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We’ll never know,” Richard Clarke told CBS’s 60 Minutes in an interview.
On Monday, The New York Times ran an op-ed by Kurt Eichenwald, titled “The Deafness Before the Storm,” in which he wrote, “the dots were not connected, and Washington did not react.
“Could the 9/11 attack have been stopped, had the Bush team reacted with urgency to the warnings contained in all of those daily briefs? We can’t ever know. And that may be the most agonizing reality of all.”
And yet, today, when Israel hears the Iranian warnings, sees the Iranian effort to build a weapon that can destroy it, and is reacting with urgency, the West lambastes Israel for attempting to do now what the US admits it should have done before 9/11.
Tension between Jerusalem and Washington over Iran erupted on Tuesday when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the world tells Israel to wait and that there is still time. “And I say wait for what? Wait until when? Those in the international community who refuse to put deadlines in front of Iran do not have the moral right to put a red light before Israel.”
Netanyahu’s comments came in the wake of statements by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday, and State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Monday, that the US had no intention of putting either red lines or deadlines in front of the Iranians.
Now, after years of fruitless efforts to get Iran to cooperate, the naive insistence that diplomacy, without setting red lines, is the right way to approach the issue, is astounding.
On the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it appears the US still has not learned the lessons of how to deal with terrorism. The Obama administration, as well as other Western countries, should take heed of Shakespeare’s words in Henry VI, Part 1: “Delays have dangerous ends.”
AFTER 9/11, everyone rushed to blame the Bush administration, the FBI, the CIA, the FAA and numerous other government and federal agencies, but no one seems to have stepped back and learned the core lesson here. And that is: stop being afraid of Islam.
Ever since Osama bin Laden declared war on America, marking, according to preeminent Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis, the resumption of the struggle for religious dominance of the world that began in the seventh century, the West has completely misunderstood the true intentions of radical Islam.
In The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, Lewis writes, “For most of the fourteen centuries of recorded Muslim history, jihad was most commonly interpreted to mean armed struggle for the defense or advancement of Muslim power. In Muslim tradition, the world is divided into two houses: the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam) in which Muslim governments rule and Muslim law prevails, and the House of War (Dar al-Harb), the rest of the world, still inhabited and, more important, ruled by infidels. The presumption is that the duty of jihad will continue… until all the world either adopts the Muslim faith or submits to Muslim rule.”
The Western world is afraid of Islam, cowed by Islamist aggression.
From Muslim riots in France to threats on Danish cartoonists and the fact that radical Muslims are gaining influence in the Netherlands, Britain and Germany, among numerous other European countries, the world has gone mad trying to protect Muslim “sensitivity” to apostasy, thus submitting to Muslim demands.
On Tuesday, The Guardian reported that Britain’s Channel 4 cited concerns over security as the reason for canceling a planned screening at its headquarters this week of a documentary film questioning the origins of Islam.
A documentary titled Islam: The Untold Story, which claimed there was little written contemporary evidence about the origin of the religion, sparked more than 1,000 complaints to Channel 4 after it was broadcast two weeks ago.
Also on Tuesday, protesters breached the wall of the American Embassy in Cairo and tore down a flag over a US film which they say insults Muhammad. Following the violence in Egypt, protesters shot dead an American official at the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya.
While the US condemned the violence in Libya, it responded differently to the violence in Egypt. Instead of condemning the protesters’ backward-thinking, ignorant ideology, the US Embassy instead issued a statement defending the attack on its own property, condemning “the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.”
The statement added: “We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.”
The US appears to have learned nothing from 9/11.
President Barack Obama believed, when he took office in 2009, that he could reach out to the Muslim and Arab world and bring them around. He bowed to the Saudis and offered his hand to Iran.
How naive.
Obama fails to understand what Lewis emphasizes: “If the fundamentalists are correct in their calculations and succeed in their war, then a dark future awaits the world, especially the part of it that embraces Islam.”
Today, Iran is set on its path to dominate the world through Islam and it clearly intends to do so through apocalyptic means. The West’s blindness that existed before 9/11 has returned. If US complacency with regard to the 2009 Iranian elections and the current horrific situation in Syria is any indication, Israel should not rely on the US – or anyone else, for that matter – to stand together with it in the event of an attack.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin arrived at this same conclusion when he said on Tuesday, “Recent developments teach us that the prime minister must be prepared for a situation in which the international community will stand aside and do nothing, while Israel and the whole world is threatened.”
The West must learn from the 9/11 experience that, when faced with glaring evidence and direct threats of terror, it is time to act, not to wait.
The lessons of the 9/11 tragedy may be lost on the West, but Israel understands that failure to combat global jihad will result in further such disasters and, ultimately, the continued spread of radical Islam.
Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized
WarSclerotic 
September 13, 2012 at 12:25 PM
this is all very convenient diverting pressure away from iran,you have all been caught in the same net,dont believe it look further to see the truth,no one can be that naive,who provided the ambassador attackers with real time satellite feed i wonder,because thats the only way the hit could of been successful,its just another deliberate diversion from the real issue
September 13, 2012 at 1:00 PM
Roosevelt’s administration also refused to realise just how commited Imperial Japan was to an Empire in the east, until December 7, 1941. Of course as many argue, this was FDR’s back door into a European War.
So who stands to gain if indeed intel was “ignored”? Well, quite simply, who stands to make money on massive contracts for defense spending and logistics?
Removing threats pre-emtively doesn’t increase anyone’s wealth. the same way that healthy living doesn’t make your doctor rich.
And lets face this one true fact: governments are not lead by middle class men and women.
So in order for the rich to keep running governments and increase their wealth from massive defense contracts the middle class must live in a state of fear, uncertainty and doubt. This is the gospel of General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Being effective only gets your budget cut. Nobody sees the results.
September 13, 2012 at 2:10 PM
TOSH
September 13, 2012 at 7:20 PM
Total nonsense. This is the sort of thing spouted out by Alex Jones and Jeff Rense.
September 14, 2012 at 9:36 PM
Rav, what I think you are saying, without actually saying it, is that the Americans blew up their own Twin Towers (+Tower 7 & Pentagon missile strike).
I couldn’t agree more!!! How do so many people still not see it? Every policeman knows, if you want to find who did it, follow the money.
Psywar spawned the middle class fear which enabled the enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act, throwing the constitution out the window and creating a police state.
Chris Stevens dies – 2 destroyers, 50 marines and a UAV murder squad turn up. How fortuitous for the US that when they want to put feet on the ground, somebody gives them an excuse. More weapons to sell.
The US instigated Syrian uprising sets the stage for the invasion of Iran. That’s a lot more weapons.
Two other brief points:
1. No US president is going to start yet another war so close to an election.
2. For the US, it makes economic sense to let Iran build the nuclear infrastructure (refining, silos, etc) and then take it over. Then point them at Russia.
There is no if, only a when.
September 13, 2012 at 3:57 PM
If Hussein was merely “naive” he wouldn’t be siding with our enemies 100% of the time. It’s time for people to realize he’s a traitor.
September 14, 2012 at 12:56 AM
brother he is a marked man i hope he realizes this,
September 14, 2012 at 1:22 AM
Whenever I’m in doubt about the credibility of an author, the obvious thing to do is to find out more about him and what he/she has written in the past. For example, if I discover they’re “deniers” of reality, as in examples like the Holocaust, Evolution, or the reality of Global Warming, I write them off as idiots, fanatics, or paid propagandists. So one of the first things to pop up for “ISRAEL KASNETT” was this:
*** 63 years ago palestinians did not exist!!! ***
http://smpalestine.com/2011/05/09/jerusalem-post-news-editor-denies-existence-of-palestinians/
Don’t know exactly where he fits in the loon spectrum, but most certainly he’s nobody whose opinion is worth a crap to me.
September 14, 2012 at 3:21 AM
The naïveté of the West is stunning. The Mullahs in Iran have their heads full of Allah and Devine intervention. They see the West as crumbling, and the Arab awakening as signs of Allah’s Devine intervention toward the ultimate goal of the global Caliphate. The words and deeds of men are less than meaningless to them.
Those waiting and hoping Iran will come around because of sanctions are fools and Chamberlin’s progeny. Appeasement is always the cowards way out, hoping and wringing of hands praying that maybe just maybe evil will change its stripes. It never does! The West waited and waited hoping Hitler would be sated. He never was, he wanted it all. He saw the West as worms for their reticence.
Tens of millions died in WWII because Hitler was not dealt with sooner. The evil that were the Nazis has resurrected itself in the form of Radical Islam. Radical Islam is just as virulent an evil as were the Nazi. They also want it all, and this time if not stopped will have atomics! How many will die this go around due to reticence and a failure of leadership.
September 14, 2012 at 4:16 PM
The ‘West’ is a bit confused for now. Religious freedom is a cornerstone in a free society and, as you know, an integral part of the US Constitution. Unfortunately, the ‘West’ still confuses Islam with religion. Until this distinction is made, the ‘West’ will continue to be a victim of Islam. Is Islam a religion that kills thousands or is it a murderous cult? The ‘West’ must decide and decide it will. Our very survival is at stake.
September 14, 2012 at 6:22 PM
Interesting note sent:
My brother and his family live in Jerusalem – he is a minister – his office is close to one of Israel ‘s largest underground military bases.
He called me last night which is very unusual – usually it is email.
He called to tell me that he is sending his family back to the US immediately due to what he is seeing happen within the last week and what he is being told by his military contacts in both the Israel and US military.
He said he is seeing with his own eyes military movements the likes of which he has never seen in his 20+ years in Israel .
What he called a massive redeployment and protective tactics of forces is underway.
Over the last two days he has seen anti-aircraft missile deployments throughout the Jerusalem area including 3 mobile units that he can see from his office windows.
In addition, he has seen very large Israeli armored columns moving fast toward the Sinia where Egypt has now moved in Armor.
There are reports of the top military leaders meeting with Israel ‘s Sr. Rabi which is something that has happened preceding every prior military campaign.
His admonition is to watch carefully and pray for Israel and its people.
He is convinced that barring something extraordinary Israel will attack Iran – with or without the US – and very soon.
It is the belief in Israel that Obama does not stand with Israel but with the Arab countries.
He has told me before that Israel will saber rattle from time to time but that this time is very different from what he is seeing and hearing.
He was at the Wailing Wall 2 days ago and there were hundreds of IDF soldiers there. As he was leaving he passed at least 20 military buses full of soldiers in route to the wall.
He has never seen this before either.
Just thought I would pass this along.
My brother is not an alarmist by any means.
When he talks like this it gets my attention for sure and usually I find he knows more than he shares.
There are reports that Israel is asking Obama to come to Israel immediately but they are being answered with silence.
My opinion is that I see the making of the perfect storm.
September 14, 2012 at 7:55 PM
JJ, your brother’s observations seem to tie in with what’s going with the US embassy attacks and all the bomb threats no happening all over the USA. I believe that Iran is behind all this. They want to scare the US out of joining Israel in the upcoming attack. Iran knows they are about to pay big time and are pulling all stops to prevent or minimize the threat. Of course, that’s just my opinion. I could be entirely wrong.
September 14, 2012 at 8:04 PM
….all the bomb threats happening…. sorry for the typo.
September 14, 2012 at 8:00 PM
Also…It was just announced that Mit Romney will begin getting White House national security briefings daily starting this week!
Methinks something’s afoot.
September 14, 2012 at 9:40 PM
Another thought…. Egypt’s new Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi just went to Tehran didn’t he?? Coincidence?