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Guest Commentary January 1, 2002
Poverty and Ignorance Are Breeding Grounds for Terrorism
The Honorable Joseph Biden
The Foreign Operations appropriations bill is one of the most important appropriations related to national security that Congress makes during the course of the year. It is a little known fact to most Americans, but foreign assistance is among the first lines of defense in ensuring the safety and security of each and every American here and abroad.
Through this appropriation we fund anti-terrorism activities, we provide money to give jobs to Russian nuclear physicists who would otherwise be offering their services to whatever terrorist organizations were willing to pay them, we fund our anti-narcotics efforts and provide money to combat the spread of deadly diseases before they reach our shores. We are in no way devoting the necessary resources to the front line. ...
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We need to stop thinking about foreign assistance as a handout, as welfare for the developing world, and consider it a strategic investment in America's security.
The tragic events of September 11 were a wake-up call. The United States is not isolated from the rest of the world in a sea of invulnerable tranquility. ... There are radicals preaching anti-American sentiments around the globe. They are saying that democracy breeds corruption, and that globalization is the reason for poverty. These radicals take advantage of the desperation of the poor and the hopeless.
Poverty and ignorance are one of the most fertile breeding grounds of terrorism. ... Many members of the Taliban, the same group of radical fiends that harbored Osama bin Laden, were refugees in Pakistan who were too poor to afford school. They were educated in radical seminaries that they attended free of charge. Where were we and the rest of the international community with an alternative for these children? We were absent. It did not concern us. It was not our problem. ...
Those who are hopeless and disaffected swell the ranks of terrorist organizations. Autocratic politically repressive regimes, where discontent and disagreement cannot be expressed, are fertile grounds for terrorist recruitment. In countries that prohibit free speech, freedom of association and political choice, violence becomes the only means through which to affect political change. The United States foreign policy apparatus has the mandate to push for change in these countries. It lacks the means to do so to the extent necessary. ...
We have got to take heed. The problems in other countries are our problems. We need to engage, and it is impossible to do so on the cheap. We cannot adequately engage the world with the monies allocated in this appropriation. The United States cannot hope to participate meaningfully in the reconstruction of Afghanistan out of these meager funds. ...
There is nothing we can do which would 100 percent guarantee that America will not be attacked by terrorists again. What we can do is mitigate the threat. We can help the UN and the government of Pakistan provide alternatives to the madrassass that refugee children in Pakistan attend because there is no other form of education available. We can help eliminate poverty and corruption in developing countries that radical elements seize on as a reason to attack so called western values and democracy.
The United States is spending a billion dollars a month on the war in Afghanistan. I do not begrudge a penny of that money. We must do whatever it takes for however long it takes to wipe Al-Qaida from the face of the earth. However, I strongly believe that we must do all we can to prevent ever having to fight such a war again. One of the ways we can do this is to invest more in preventative measures. We must foster the spread of democracy, bolster the judicial and law enforcement capabilities of developing countries and help strengthen the economies where necessary. What we have done to date is clearly not enough.
Joseph Biden, a Democrat, is a U.S. Senator from Delaware. The above commentary has been adapted from a speech Sen. Biden delivered on the floor of the Senate, December 20, 2001. To contact him, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
