The Statist Mindset of Terrorist Activities

Perle's Comments to Tenet: True or False? - The Danger Room

My concern is not with Perle's comment necessarily but the mindset behind them. The belief that the only way an attack like 9/11 could have occurred was with government support, whoever that government may be, is a holdover of the old belief that systematic genocide could only occur through state sanction and action. Now it is well know that the government of Afghanistan at the time did support Al Queda but their government was both rather small and ineffectual in affecting world politics. The most important thing the Taliban provided was the space and freedom to train and organize. A government like Saddam's Iraq could have provided such aid itself but Saddam didn't pull the trigger anymore than the Taliban did. Certainly the U.S. should move against those states that tacitly support terrorism through their inaction against terrorist groups but to say that the host nation bears the same responsibility is pushing the envelope some, to say the least. It's a little different to say the Taliban is the same as a nation such as Iran who has known financial and military ties to Palestinian terrorist groups. In one instance you have a nation who is actively funding and training a terrorist group using government means while in the other you have a nation who isn't doing anything to prevent it. In the world of foreign policies and foreign affairs you cannot treat other countries like an opposition party. It simply doesn't work. You can't just throw some pissant country against the wall and expect everyone to suddenly fall into line. You take down the biggest motherfucker on the block then people will respect you.