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 ince
the Vietnam War, many Americans have ridiculed the concept of "nation
building." They have rejected the notion of stationing the
men and women of our Armed Forces overseas. They are wrong.
The purpose
of the current war has been to destroy the Taliban, undo al Qaeda,
and drive terror-supporting dictators from power. So long as we
keep within those limits, however, we are placing ourselves in the
position of Israel — you kill so many of ours, we will kill
so many of yours. But despite the superb Israeli military, that
country's war against Palestinian terrorists is now very old, with
no end in sight. Sooner or later, wars must give way to politics.
That happened
in 1945, after the Americans and their allies destroyed the Japanese
and German ability to wage war. Our occupation forces moved in and
led the way to nation building. People say we can't do that in the
Muslim world — the most we can aim at is to force the terrorist
states to stop the killing — because the Islamic nations are
so alien, so far away, and so committed to their way of life, which
is more than a millennium old. But the examples of Germany, Japan,
and South Korea show there is hope.
Germany had
been under Nazi rule for a dozen years. It was a totalitarian state.
When Dwight D. Eisenhower took up his duties as commander of the
occupation in western Germany, he called in his staff to assert
that the success or failure of the occupation "can only be
judged fifty years from now. If by then Germany has a stable and
flourishing democracy, we will have succeeded." Well, that
has happened, first of all because of the Germans themselves, but
also because of guidance and help from the United States.
Japan in 1945
was a feudal society and had been for 1,000 years. Japan was dominated
by its emperor and its military, who were racists and totalitarians
like Hitler. No Japanese citizen had ever voted in a meaningful
election. Women were not educated, nor did they participate much
in national life.
During the
war, the hatred between the Japanese and the Americans was unbounded.
The things they called each other, what they thought about each
other, what they did to each other . . . But beginning in September
1945, when American occupation forces moved into Japan, much was
changed. We did not try to convert Japan to Christianity, but under
Gen. Douglas MacArthur's leadership we did guide and help build
a modern democracy, with full rights for women.
Those activities
continued, around the world. In 1948, the Americans flew their former
bombers in the Berlin airlift, to save West Berlin from the Communists.
That same year, America committed vast amounts of its resources
to restore the economies of former allies and former foes alike.
This act of generosity was unparalleled in the annals of human history.
Today, the stable democracies of Western Europe and Japan owe their
existence in no small measure to the Marshall Plan.
In 1950, America
committed herself to a major war in Korea, not to conquer but to
defend. By 1953, South Korea was in shambles. But through their
own efforts, and with help from the American Armed Forces —
who are still there — the South Koreans turned their country
into a flourishing democracy. The difference today between North
Korea and South Korea is obvious to all.
The nation
building in Germany, Japan, and South Korea — made possible
by foreign aid and its companion, the American Armed Forces stationed
abroad — was one of the great developments of the 20th century.
It can be done again in the Muslim world.
I saw it happening
in Bosnia, where I spent Thanksgiving 2001 on a tour for the USO,
meeting and talking with the troops of the U.S. 29th Division. They
are in a country that is about one-third Muslim, one-third Croat,
and one-third Serb, a country in which people have been killing
each other for centuries. But when the American Stabilization Force
came to head up a 33-nation peacekeeping force, the Bosnian people
saw Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, black Americans, and white
Americans, men and women, plus Greeks and Turks, Germans and French,
all working together. Now the Muslims, Serbs, and Croats are following
their example, rebuilding, cooperating, creating a new nation.
To do the same
in Afghanistan and in other Muslim countries, we must stay, set
an example, and lead. To get the American people to support the
war on terror — and the nation building that must follow —
we can look to the World War II example. Pearl Harbor, like September
11, 2001, pulled us together, but we still needed leadership to
stay the course. Two of the many things the Franklin Roosevelt administration
did serve as models.
First, getting
the children involved. I was a kid during the war. We were urged
to do our duty. That included gathering tin cans, saving bacon grease,
growing victory gardens, buying war bonds with our pennies and nickels,
making sacrifices. Whenever we complained about shortages due to
rationing — leather shoes, gasoline for the family car, too
many tuna-fish casseroles, not enough sugar — we were told,
"We are all in this together." There are scores of ways
we can get today's children involved. One suggestion: Have them
work on weekends at whatever job, then donate their pay to a fund
to provide food for needy Muslims. Children feeding children.
Second, explain
the war to the people. In 1942 the Office of War Information persuaded
Frank Capra to supervise a series of movies entitled Why We Fight.
The movies were Hollywood at its best. How did Hitler come to power?
What countries did he invade, and why? The same for Mussolini and
Tojo and the Emperor. Who were our allies, in China, France, Britain,
the Soviet Union? What were they like? Most of all, as the title
of the series put it, why are we fighting?
We can do the
same today. The American people are woefully ignorant about the
Islamic world. Hollywood's best directors and actors and technical
people should make movies and TV specials that tell us who the Muslims
are, what they want, why so many of them hate us so much. None of
this is complex or impossible. Out of it would come understanding,
determination, a willingness to pay the cost to help the Muslim
peoples progress toward democracy.
To state that
there is no hope for democracy in Islam is wrong. There are progressive
Muslim states, where women can dress comfortably and teach, be doctors,
and so on. There are 1.2 billion Muslims today; that means there
are about 600 million Muslim women. That is quite a constituency.
Like every other human being who ever lived, they crave and benefit
immeasurably from freedom and education.
In his farewell
address to the American people, Eisenhower spoke to the best instincts
of the American spirit:
We pray that
peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their
great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity
shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom
may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom
will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who
are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that
the scourges of poverty, disease, and ignorance will be made to
disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all
peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the
binding force of mutual respect and love.
Such a world
is still a long way away, but we are headed in that direction. If
Eisenhower's world seems pie in the sky, consider the things that
did not seem possible but then did happen, such as a whole new attitude
in race relations among white and black Americans. The greater integration
of women. Nelson Mandela walking out of prison. The radiant smiles
of the women of Afghanistan as they removed their veils and lifted
their faces to the sun.
Anything is
possible. We must lead. We took the weight of the world on our shoulders
when we won the Cold War. To everyone, everywhere, what a blessing.
Around the world people say, "If there is going to be only
one superpower, thank God Almighty it is the U.S.A." The responsibility
that goes with being Number One should be apparent to all. We must
be involved. It is our duty and our privilege. True, our grandchildren
will still be struggling to fulfill Eisenhower's prayer — but
what we are doing gets them started.
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