Steve Pomeratz, a former FBI chief of communications, said terrorist organizations have been festering in the Western world, and claimed Sept. 11 was ‘not a wake-up call’ during a forum yesterday at the School of Management.
The event, entitled ‘The War of Terrorism: Who is Winning?’ was moderated by Donald Stern, a former United States attorney. The lecture featured Pomerantz, Yuhudit Barsky of the American Jewish Committee and Andrew Bacevich, a BU professor and director of the Center for International Relations.
Pomerantz called Sept. 11 a ‘failure to wake up to all the other calls of the last few decades,’ and said there were three failures which combined to allow the terrorist attacks to occur.
The first of the three failures was the FBI’s inability to gather intelligence about terrorist organizations, Pomerantz said. Because the FBI must abide by certain intelligence laws, the organization cannot conduct spy operations in other countries.
‘The only way to prevent acts of terrorism is to collect intelligence,’ Pomerantz said. ‘The FBI conducts investigations after the perpetrators have succeeded.’
He said the second failure was the poor state of the borders of the United States.
‘The immigration process is broken,’ Pomerantz said. ‘Every Middle East terrorist group has a presence in the United States.’
Pomerantz claimed physical security was the third failure. Airport security was inadequate to stop the terrorists from boarding the airplanes.
Barsky agreed with Pomerantz, and said the terrorist organizations have established themselves in the Western world, bringing the threat of attacks closer to home.
‘Western countries have become a haven for terrorists and terrorist organizations,’ she said. ‘We need to understand the fact that terrorist organizations have learned our ways and customs.’
She said al Qaeda views itself as an organization which maintains the Muslim empire not as a terrorist group.
‘The world view of al Qaeda is that of a Muslim brotherhood, an empire until the end of time,’ she said. ‘They see the need to obliterate the forces of evil: the United States, Israel and the rest of the Western world.’
Bacevich concluded the event by saying the perception is the United States is winning the war on terrorism; however, he voiced his skepticism to this idea.
‘The outlook is not so rosy,’ Bacevich said. ‘Operation Enduring Freedom has achieved significant success but there is still much to do.’
Bacevich also outlined the role of America in the fate of Afghanistan. He said the administration’s policy began as one of non-interference in developing governments. He said the United States took the same policy the last time Afghanistan formed a new government, which resulted in the formation of the Taliban.
‘The enemy is not terror. Terror is a tactic,’ he said. ‘The enemy is the anti-American violent Islamic radicalism that develops in the Arab world.’
Bacevich said America’s involvement in Afghanistan would be necessary if the country is to develop into a strong democracy.
Some efforts the United States can take to win the war against terror would be to engage the enemy in front of the world, deny the enemy new recruits, and transform the societies that foster Islamic radicalism, according to Bacevich. He said if our democratic values prevail in the Arab areas, there will be less of a chance of another Sept. 11.
Bacevich concluded his discussion with his answer to the question of who is winning the war against terror.
‘It is much too soon to tell. We’re still in the first inning,’ he said. ‘It will take decades to complete, but it is very much a winnable war.’
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