In a speech, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman says he thinks the root causes of terrorism can be defeated.
By BRADY DENNIS
Published March 11, 2004
TAMPA - Despite his better judgment, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman remains a hopeless optimist when it comes to the Middle East, he told a crowd of 500 Wednesday night.
Friedman said he believes the United States can help foster a better, more stable Arab world in the wake of the war in Iraq. He believes the root causes of terrorism can be defeated if free societies rise to the challenge. In short, he said, he chooses to let his "hope triumph over experience."
Friedman's speech at the Tampa Jewish Federation's President's Dinner marked the three-time Pulitzer Prize winner's second lecture in Tampa in just more than a year.
In February 2003, just before the war in Iraq began, he told a crowd at the University of South Florida - as he'd told millions of readers in his syndicated columns - that he supported the invasion of Iraq, if the United States was committed to rebuilding it correctly.
On Wednesday, he called his decision to support the war "professionally, the hardest issue I've had to wrestle with." He said he believes he made the right decision.
"I believe this was the right war, but it had to be done the right way," he said.
Friedman said the task remains far from complete. He said radical Islamic groups who support terrorism remain a constant threat, even more than the Nazis were during World War II or Russia's Red Army was during the Cold War.
"At the end of the day, (the others) loved life as much as they hated us," Friedman said. "The real weapons of mass destruction are the young people who hate us more than they love life."
He repeated his message that for decades the United States has treated the Arab world "like a series of gas stations - just keep the pump open, the price low and be nice to Israel."
That attitude, he said, has bred young Arabs full of humiliation about their struggling societies and anger with their oppressive governments. It has bred what Friedman called an "incredible deficit of human development" and "a poverty of dignity."
It's an attitude that he believes no longer can suffice.
One way to salve the wounds within the Arab world, he said, is for leaders to pay attention to the context that defines how people live their lives, the dynamics that shape their happiness and anger. Only if America is serious about bringing true freedom, an atmosphere of opportunities for young people, empowerment of women and modern education to Arab countries can this war end up a success, he said.
Given those tools and a measure of hope, Friedman said, young people who might otherwise have become terrorists "don't want to blow up the world; they want to be part of it."
