Ryan ChartrandHeadlines screamed across the country this week about the “Fort Dix Six” – six men who were arrested for allegedly plotting to attack Fort Dix, an Army base used primarily for the training of National Reservists, in Burlington County, Va.
As the story goes, these six men planned to storm the base, using automatic weapons and explosives to kill as many as possible. Many conservatives have touted this story as fear-mongering proof that Islamic terrorists are lurking within the United States, waiting to strike. However, a closer look at this story shows us just how narrow-minded the Bush administration’s approach to combating terrorism around the world, and what’s really effective in reducing it.
Before examining this case in particular, we should take these stories of attempted terrorism within the United States with a grain of salt. I am not saying outright that this story was fabricated by the Bush administration for some political benefit, but Bush certainly has a track record of trumping up stories of terrorism defeated to save his plummeting approval ratings. There was the attempted bombing of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was nothing more than one man with a few pounds of explosives. There was also the terrorist “sleeper cell” in Oregon, and numerous other cases of trumped up danger to validate the Bush administration’s shredding of the Constitution, all in the name of fighting terrorism. This story may be no different.
What’s important to note is that the arrest of these six men was the product of a 16-month investigation by the FBI, involving simple surveillance, anonymous tips, and undercover agents. That’s right, there was no extraordinary rendition, no kidnapping “suspects” and sending them to Guantanamo Bay, no warrant-less wiretapping. These arrests were the product of the manner of law enforcement that Bush and his lackeys have complained to be woefully inadequate in the fight against terrorism.
Rumors have emerged suggesting that the FBI agent that infiltrated this group may have pressured this group of young Muslims to go further in their plans than they had ever intended. While we don’t know all of the specifics of the law enforcement used to catch these men, those details will emerge in court – something that is nothing but a pesky barrier to catching these “terrorists” in the mind of the Bush administration.
This event, if anything, underscores the inadequacy of the Bush strategy of fighting terrorism. Seeing terrorism as nothing but a product of unrest in the Middle East that can be targeted and destroyed with a conventional, military response is foolish, arcane thinking. This thinking sees terrorism as only emerging from a few countries found in the “Axis of Evil,” instead of the larger, global problem that it is. Addressing this problem takes a comprehensive, flexible solution that utilizes comprehensive, proportionate responses to address instances of terrorism. In some cases, a military response is appropriate – take Afghanistan, for example – but that will frequently lead to terrible, negative consequences. Iraq is a shining example of those consequences. Rather, the most effective approach to fighting terrorism is through comprehensive intelligence gathering and global law enforcement, a concept that is anathema to the Bush administration’s neo-conservative worldview.
Whether or not the Fort Dix incident will prove to be the pressing threat that it was made out to be originally remains to be seen. However, it is a clear reminder of the inadequacy of the Bush administration’s response to the threat of global terrorism. One can only hope that this inadequacy doesn’t manifest itself in a manner that truly threatens the people of the United States in the next 18 months, until the grownups can take over U.S. foreign policy again. In a time of incredible fear-mongering by this administration, George Bush himself is the biggest threat to the United States.
Zach Austin is a political science junior and Mustang Daily political columnist.