Spring Break
CNN correspondent relates globalization to terrorism
Robert Hanson
Issue date: 9/17/03 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
|
Bergen was the second speaker in the university's sixteen-part 2003 Honors Colloquium on globalization. While Bergen did not focus on globalization, he did say that without it, terrorism as it exists today would not be possible.
"The globalized world enables terrorist groups," Bergen said, noting that while they are all good advances, products of globalization like the Internet, cheaper airfares, 24-hour news networks and open borders all aide terrorist groups.
"The kinds of people who are in these jihadist groups tend to be quite sophisticated. In the globalized world, terrorist groups kind of take advantage of globalized tech."
Bergen, who interviewed Osama bin Laden in 1997, said terrorism had evolved over the past 10 years. He said that after the attack on a Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo religious sect, which killed 12 and sent thousands to the hospital, terrorists had gone from trying to minimize causalities and maximizing coverage to trying to maximize both for "prestige." Because of this, Bergen said he believed that there would probably be an attack by terrorist groups with weapons of mass destruction.
"The previous reigns on using these weapons have seemed to disappear," he said.
The correspondent also said that he believed that both the Clinton and Bush Administrations deserved criticism for their handling of terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Neither administration gets glowing marks," he said. "We can generously spread the blame around."
He did offer praise, however, for the Bush administration's handling of the war in Afghanistan, which destroyed many al-Qaida training camps and removed the Taliban regime which to that point had helped to hide bin Laden from the U.S.
Bergen pointed out that since the Sept. 11 attacks there had been no attacks in the U.S. and attacks on a much smaller scale abroad.
While he did not criticize the war on Iraq, Bergen said that the war had offered a new front for al-Qaida.
"Iraq is the future of al-Qaida, the future of jihadist groups," he said. "Unfortunately, I think Iraq will become the battlefield for al-Qaida in the future."
With regards to capturing leaders such as bin Laden and Mullah Omar of Afghanistan, Bergen said he believes that while it will help to disrupt terrorist networks, it will not bring them down.
"Al-Qaida has morphed from being an organization to an ideology," he said.
Bergen said he believes it is important for the American public to educate themselves about terrorism.
"This [recent terrorist attacks] is the beginning of a very professional terrorist campaign," he said. "It's in our principle national security issue right now. We should try to understand the enemies."
