Letters: Roots of terrorism deeper than terror

As a student of politics, I took particular interest in the July
18 David Keyes column (“Terror will continue unless
fought”) regarding the force of terror in today’s
world. While I agree with much of what he said, I think his article
begs the question: What is terrorism?

Terrorism is the accepted form of warfare practiced by small
powers fighting those greater than themselves. There is nothing
that we have said about the terrorists that the British did not say
about George Washington and the “patriots” of the
American Revolution, reminding us once again that one man’s
terrorist is another man’s patriot.

However, the root causes of the malaise in the Middle East are
(1) our slavish support for Israel and their continued occupation
of Palestinian territories and (2) our invasions of and occupations
in Iraq and Afghanistan. As long as the present policies prevail in
the West, we can expect more such abusive reactions from the Middle
East. The terrorists are overwhelmingly young ““ the majority
under the age of thirty. They are angry and embittered, filled with
religious fervor and fanaticism, blaming most of their ills on the
“Godless West.”

A change in our politics with regard to the region would
certainly go a long way toward a resolution of at least some of the
problems. Israeli withdrawal from all of the Palestinian lands now
occupied would take the teeth out of the Arab rebellion and a
“toothless tiger” would eventually fade into
insignificance.

Will Carter

Former UCLA staff