Lessons to be learned
From Mrs Robin Theurkauf Sir: My husband, Tom Theurkauf, lost his life in the World Trade Center disaster, I offer these thoughts as both a new widow and a mother of' three fatherless boys, and as a scholar of international law and politics.
In the short term, the first priority should be to hunt down and arrest the criminals with the goal of achieving justice, not revenge. This is a task better left to investigative police forces, who can prepare for trial, than the military.
Ordinary Americans can combat fear and hate by reaching out to Muslims in their communities, and by patronising Arab businesses. This show of solidarity will in part thwart these criminals' goals of creating division in American communities.
In the long term, eradicating terrorism will require not the elimination of a group of people, but rather a set of ideas. Terrorist impulses ferment in cultures of poverty, oppression and ignorance. The elimination of those conditions and the active promotion of a universal respect for human rights must become a national-security priority.
Finally, the United States must, as a matter of policy, recognise and accept its vulnerability. In today's hypermilitarised environment, no state can ensure security within its borders without the co-operation of others. The Bush administration's unilateralism has been revealed to be hollow. Rather than infringing on our sovereignty. international institutions enhance our ability to perform the functions of national government, including the ability to fight international crime.
Bombing Afghanistan today will not prevent tomorrow's tragedy. We must look beyond military options for long-term solutions.
Robin Theurkauf
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. USA
Previous page
