September 15, 2001
COMMUNITY AND DEMOCRACY: A NEW WAY TO FIGHT TERRORISM

By Jim Mangia

The murder of more than 6,000 innocent civilians in the recent attack on America sends chills down the spine of every world citizen with any sense of humanity. In many ways, more questions than answers have been raised. How could this happen? Why would anyone do this? What can we do to respond? Who is to blame? Will these acts of terror continue to escalate until the world is teetering on barbarism?

A critical question emerges: how can we prevent this from happening ever, ever again? That is a
complicated question. It is a question that involves many layers of action that go far beyond military
reprisal.

I agree with many Americans that we must respond in order to prevent these ultra right-wing extremists from continuing to murder innocent people. But is the lasting solution simply to murder large numbers of innocent Arabs and create another generation of enraged and frustrated orphans in response?

I believe the long term solution lies in our ability to build community and improve democracy. What do I mean by that? In the days following the horrific attacks, millions of Americans came together from all walks of life and of all racial/ethnic backgrounds. From the site of the wreckage in New York to the streets of our neighborhoods across America, we expressed incredible human dignity, love and belief in the American community. American values of community, sacrifice and love were everywhere. Hundreds of thousands lined up to give blood, make financial contributions to the victims, participate in the rescue efforts, hold candlelight vigils. A new wave of love and patriotism engulfed our country. Collective and democratic expressions of community are the essense of what it means to be American. As a nation of immigrants, we have banded together. And maybe this raises the most important question of all. Can we spread this sense of community and goodwill to the rest of the world?

What is a possible new way to solve this crisis on the political front? Reform American foreign policy. Currently, American foreign policy is not debated. It is decided through the influence of powerful and wealthy lobbying groups, be it big oil, pro-Israeli organizations, or weapons manufacturers. We must democratize American foreign policy so that the American people play an actual role in policy decisions. Political reforms such as campaign finance reform, national initiative and referendum, limits on lobbyist contributions to Congress, and same-day voter registration will increase the voice of average Americans in our political process. Dialogue and debate must include diverse opinions on American foreign policy options. As well, we must spread our love of community and democracy to the Arab world. We must encourage business investment: perhaps develop a Marshall Plan for the Middle East which will give Arabs economic activity and educational opportunities so that they too, can have a democratic voice in the decisions of their countries.

To be sure, there is plenty of blame to go around for the current state of the world. The policies of terror and mass murder adopted by a few of the most privileged and wealthiest elements of the Islamic world only serve to further immiserate the large majority of Muslims around the globe. As well, United States foreign policy is too often decided secretly behind closed doors, with checks and balances and any sense of democratic process conspicuously absent. More often than not our policies are dictated by economic relations and the needs of multi-national corporations rather than what's best for our country as a whole or what is fair and democratic. It was the C.I.A. after all that trained, financed and armed the Taliban in the war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Most Americans still don't know that. Therefore we had no democratic role to play in that decision and that self-defeating policy. But it is ordinary Americans who are paying the price in this country for our government's foreign policy blunders, just like civilians in the Arab world pay a isproportionate price when there is retaliation for terrorist attacks.

This raises further questions. Can we deny the role of big oil (and our unquenching thirst for it) in the
conflicts and hatred against America in the Middle East? Can we deny that our uncritical support for Israel against the Palestinians (rather than a more balanced and fair approach) played a role as well in creating an environment in the Muslim world dangerous to America and our interests? And on the other side, the decision to kill innocent people is not only counterproductive to the "cause" of the Islamic fundamentalists, but it is inhumane and immoral. No pretense about purity can excuse mass murder.

What we saw in the suicide bombing of the Pentagon and the World Trade Center were raw expressions of barbarism. Large segments of the world live in squalor and are severly undeveloped, not only economically, but socially, psycologically and politically as well. There is a worldwide moral crisis, a dehumanization, a disregard for the value of human life. America is not to blame for this condition. But unfortunately, American foreign policy has not participated in changing this international environment. And I believe that is because the American people have been the missing element of American foreign policy decision-making.

Community and democracy are the most powerful tools Americans have to offer the world in the fight against terrorism. We need a lot more democracy and a lot more community everywhere in the world! The American people can give that sense and deep belief in democratic process (as we continue to improve our own); and that expression of community (as we've seen in our collective response to the attack) to the world. It may turn out to be a lot more powerful in the long run than dropping bombs.

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Jim Mangia is the founder and president of the Coalition for Political Reform. He is the former national secretary of the Reform Party.