The Vietnam War could still be there

We can not prevent what happened on September 11th. But we can work for a worldwide mobilization against the war that is taking place. Without the international protest movement, the Vietnam War could have continued – as a test field for increasingly smarter weapon systems from the American armaments industry.

We do not catch bin Laden by stopping the war. We will not stop future terrorist acts from the communities behind the Twin Towers attack in New York by stopping the war. But we can counteract the polarization of the world community that Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush so effectively promote.

At the same time, we must have answers to two questions we cannot turn away from:

• How do we find the culprits behind the September 11 terrorist attacks?
• How do we prevent future terrorism?

Surveillance and European police

There is no way around far closer surveillance of potential terrorist groups. From what is published in open sources, and from what Bush says and does, it may seem that "one" knows a great deal, both about who the terrorists are, what they want, who leads them, how they work, how they finances its business. If "one" knows so much, why not tear them up?

Arrests are reported in many countries, so maybe that job is underway. One basic problem will always remain: It is when the crime is committed, that punishment is possible. Many countries are introducing – or have introduced – legislation that makes it a crime to plan a terrorist act. But how easy is it to prove it?

But European police, constantly showing that one has them under surveillance, can also be deployed against environments a suspect for contact with terrorist groups. Such police activities can compromise on legal security and privacy. But we do not get any protection against terrorism for free.

Monitor cash flow!

Even more important – and certainly easier – is to monitor and prevent the money transfers that the terrorist network needs. There are many descriptions of the network of companies, shadow companies and financial institutions bin Laden has built up to hide such money transfers. If any of this is true, it should be a simple matter to start the settlement. If nothing is true, then one must take the job seriously.

At the same time, such money control would affect all forms of cross-border crime, both the drug gangs, the prostitution mafia and the black arms trade, three of the most expansive industries in the world today. So what does it mean? The fear of hitting the free capital movement?

If Bush is right

And if Bush is right? If the command center and training camps are in Afghanistan, what do we do?

Afghanistan is one of the easiest countries to isolate from the rest of the world. $ 40 billion has been given to Bush to wage the war against Afghanistan. Instead, if one, under the auspices of the United Nations, were focusing on effective control of the borders of Afghanistan and with all communications to and from Afghanistan, any command lines out of the country would be so insecure that they would have little value.

Moreover, it is much easier to establish a lasting alliance in the fight against terrorism with neighboring states with a large Muslim population if it is border control and not bombing.

What about bin Laden?

But what about bin Laden? Should he go free?

There is no reason why, but as with Milosevich we can take the time to help. We can start by giving Afghan refugees a decent life, especially the millions who have fled to neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran. It will make an impression also in Afghanistan.

Then we can start negotiations with the Taliban regime on generous UN support for economic recovery and relocation after a continuous war for more than twenty years. Sooner or later, bin Laden will also be a burden on a regime like the Taliban – and the regime will be so heavy on the Afghans that it will fall.

But it is of course not bin Laden who is important. The important thing is that Afghans can have peace – and the world is exposed to less terrorism – if a mobilized world opinion can stop the war and put in place a large-scale peace operation under the auspices of the UN.

Help is not enough

There is no direct link between distress and terrorism. At the same time, if we want to prevent terrorism, there is only one important job: to reduce the contradictions between the poor and the rich on this planet.

Many have called for a large-scale aid program from rich to poor countries. The EU has recently decided to double development aid – and thus reach the UN target of 0,7 percent of GDP. (Good that Jan Petersen did not have the right to vote.) Justification: to counter terrorism.

But help is not enough. The decisive factor is whether we can change the power relations that make poor people impoverished around the globe.

Change power relations

Then the trade regime must be mirrored so that the developing country comes out best, not the developing country. The IMF and the World Bank must be deprived of the power they have to force developing countries in the currency crisis to cut health services and school supplies. Through the UN, developing countries must receive extra support for health and education in such situations.

Efforts for health and education through WHO, UNESCO and Unicef ​​must be multiplied. If the UN Commissioner for Refugees is to be able to give all refugees decent conditions, that budget must also be multiplied.

All weapons production must be subject to effective UN control, and trade in weapons must be monitored as closely as possible between possible terrorist groups.