Former CIA Director speaks on terror

Former CIA Director speaks on terror

by Lynn Pellicano
GW Hatchet (George Washington University)
01/29/2004

Former CIA Director James Woolsey and GW professor Leon Fuerth kicked off a series of town hall meetings about the war on terror at the Elliott School of International Affairs building Tuesday.

The event, "The War on Terrorism and the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the World," was the first of a series of conferences on terrorism that will be held throughout the week in 10 cities on three continents.

Despite inclement weather, more than 150 students showed up to hear Woolsey, Fuerth and American University professor Amb. Akbar Ahmed talk about the war on terror and the causes underlying terrorist actions.

Each panelist was allotted 30 minutes to address the audience. Fuerth, who was the first to speak, said he would "probably have more questions than answers about this topic."

He said the Bush administration has not appealed to the Muslim world and "managed to scare people around the world (into) viewing us as a primary source of instability or danger."

Fuerth, formerly a national security advisor to Vice President Al Gore, said that every American should learn about other religions and cultures.

"We must accept and honor other religions in order to communicate with those who believe and practice them," he said. "This is something that doesn't come naturally (but is) acquired by habit of thought."

Terrorism is being used as a "tactic" to wage wars, said Woolsey, who criticized terrorist groups as a "totalitarian movement masquerading as a religion."

"(It) isn't a problem with Islam," said Woolsey, who served as CIA director under President Bill Clinton and has held several other posts in the State Department.

The panelists said Islam is developing rapidly as a political and cultural institution and should not be viewed as a threat

"(This) is about raising issues that concern the globe, not just 'us' and 'them,'" Ahmed said. He said the Western world needs to "pull back and look at it is as a global phenomenon."