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Bin Laden continues: "We
say to the Defense Secretary that his talk could induce a grieving mother
to laughter! And it shows the fears that have enveloped you all. . . .
When tens of your soldiers were killed in minor battles and one American
Pilot was dragged in the street of Mogadishu, you left the area in
disappointment, humiliation and defeat, carrying your dead with you.
Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising
revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You
had been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence
and weaknesses became very clear."
Tillman's best season was in 2000 when
he started all 16 games and had 224 tackles.
"Pat was the kind of guy who would
rather have played football in a parking lot than in a stadium with
100,000 people watching," Tim Layden, a senior writer for Sports
Illustrated, told Fox News.
Layden said that Tillman was
exceptionally loyal. Before making the decision to join the Army, he
turned down a more lucrative contract with the St. Louis Rams because he
wanted to continue playing for the team that gave him his NFL start — the
Cardinals.
"NFL teams are recruiting a new breed of
criminal players, the likes of which should disturb all NFL fans," say the
authors. "Gone are the good old days of NFL recruits having rap sheets
detailing merely drunken brawls and vandalism. In are the days of lethal
violence, rape, armed robbery home invasion, kidnapping, and drug
dealing."
Let
me underscore why it is that the U.S. is so deeply engaged in the
Middle East and what is at stake in Iraq -- for I fear that there is
some public uncertainty regarding these issues. For that purpose, I
recommend a re-reading of Osama bin Ladin's "Declaration of War
Against the Americans," in which he states that "the Defense Secretary
of the Crusading Americans had said that the explosions at Riyadh and
Al-Khobar had taught him one lesson: that is not to withdraw when
attacked by cowardly terrorists." (I should point out that in 1998 the
defense secretary in question was not Donald Rumsfeld but rather
William Cohen.)
Bin Laden
continues: "We say to the Defense Secretary that his talk could induce
a grieving mother to laughter! And it shows the fears that have
enveloped you all. . . . When tens of your soldiers were killed in
minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the street of
Mogadishu, you left the area in disappointment, humiliation and
defeat, carrying your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the
whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were
merely a preparation for withdrawal. You had been disgraced by Allah
and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became
very clear."
* * *
Bin Laden and his ilk may be
fanatics, but they are deadly serious and thoroughly persistent. We
must anticipate, therefore, a conflict that will continue for many
years.
Osama himself has opined that,
"when the people see a strong horse and a weak horse, they naturally
gravitate toward the strong horse." Consequently, this country must
conclusively demonstrate that we are not the weak horse.
Withdrawal before we have successfully stabilized Iraq is, therefore,
not an option: It would be dramatically more visible throughout the
Middle East and elsewhere than were those earlier retreats cited by
bin Laden. I recognize that inevitably debate will continue regarding
at least the timing of our move into Iraq. Yet we must not allow the
political contentions of an election year to create any impression
that we are anything but united in our determination to persevere and
to prevail in Iraq. Success is the only acceptable course of action,
and we will succeed in sustaining order in Iraq only by embracing
certain fundamental realities.
• First
and foremost, establishing reasonable security is the prerequisite for
achieving the goals of political stability. In principle, we have come
to accept this reality, but in practice we have been too slow
effectively to act upon it. Neither American nor coalition forces can,
by themselves, impose security on Iraq. Iraqis themselves must provide
indispensable support. Only Iraqis can gather the intelligence to
identify the regime remnants and foreign terrorists who must be
largely neutralized before adequate security can be ensured. Moreover,
it will be essential for Iraqi security forces to be the principal
element in rooting out terrorists and destroying their cells -- with
the coalition military increasingly in a supporting role.
We also need a security
strategy. "We will stay the course" may be a necessary guideline or
exhortation, but it is not a strategy. "We will stay the course until
we have an Iraqi force capable of providing reasonable security for
the people of Iraq" -- that is a strategy. But that implies a
viable plan to create such a force. It also implies that we should not
expect the level of security in, say, Denmark or Japan.
Regrettably, we have allowed almost
a year to pass without creating an effective Iraqi security force.
While we have recruited several hundred thousand Iraqis into the
security force, those forces have tended to melt away in times of
difficulty. It may be that this behavior reflects a problem of morale.
Possibly it reflects a deeper unwillingness to use force on
recalcitrant fellow Iraqis. But the most obvious answer is our own
failure properly to train and to equip these security forces.
On the equipping issue, all too
many months have gone by without appropriately vetted forces being
appropriately equipped with weapons, protective gear and
communications. That is a reflection of our own cumbersome budgetary
and procurement procedures, which have imposed a high, long-run cost
on our operations. On the question of training, we have not allowed
sufficient time for the training of individuals and the organizing of
units with a high degree of cohesion. The task of training Iraqi
security forces should be a principal obligation of American and
coalition forces in country. Other nations, such as India, even if
they have not contributed military forces, may be prepared to
participate in training these security forces.
• Second,
we must focus more effectively on economic problems. There is a
correlation between the high prevailing unemployment in Iraq and the
restlessness and low morale spreading among the populace. Admittedly,
initial expectations regarding an immediate and magical boost in
living conditions were unrealistic. Yet, months have gone by without
the improvement in living conditions that might realistically have
been expected. The $18.4 billion that the Congress appropriated for
reconstruction should have already begun to alleviate the problem --
improving living conditions and expanding employment. It is a shame
that so little of that money has been obligated to this point -- and
even significantly less has been spent. We must get that money
flowing. Delay makes the problem worse. Once again, however, it is our
procurement procedures that have imposed these costs upon us. We
cannot afford normal peace-time procurement procedures -- with 60 days
to submit responses to Requests For Proposals and another 60 days to
assess them, etc. Congress can act -- quickly -- and help ease
self-defeating restraints.
• The
third focus is the political transition. (Naturally, the security and
economic conditions will remain the foundation for a successful
transition.) We have been committed, since November, to transferring
sovereignty to the Iraqis on June 30. The president has firmly
reiterated that he intends to stick to that date. The administration
has indicated that it is inclined to accept U.N. envoy Lakhdar
Brahimi's proposals for the new Iraqi regime. While nothing is ever
set in concrete, especially if the conditions within the country were
to deteriorate substantially, I would expect that the date for
transferring sovereignty to the Iraqis will be met. At that point, the
Iraqis themselves will be making decisions regarding the civil order.
Yet once again, time's-a'wastin'.
There are only some 10 weeks left before that transfer is to be made.
The new American ambassador, John Negroponte, has only just been
chosen. The embassy team, reportedly upwards of 2,000 people, has
obviously not yet solidified, so has not put on "training wheels" for
the tasks ahead. The less time available will certainly detract from a
smooth takeover from the CPA.
I do not wish to overstate this
point. One must recall that the critical issue of security will remain
in American hands -- and under the control of a selected four-star
general. Under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1511, Iraqi armed
forces will be "a principal partner in the multinational force
operating in Iraq under unified command," in accordance with the
Transitional Administrative Law. Thus, even if the transfer of
sovereignty on several issues does not proceed perfectly smoothly, in
the crucial area of security (which remains the largest challenge in
Iraq) there will be little change. Contrary to a widespread public
impression, the transfer of authority on June 30 does not mean that
the American role is ending or that we are somehow washing our hands
of Iraq. This last must effectively be conveyed to the Iraqi public at
large.
• Fourthly,
as we look beyond June 30, we should expect a closer collaborative
relationship between State and Defense than has been our experience to
this point. The relationship between the civilians in the CPA, mostly
buttoned down in the Green Zone, and the military who have been out in
the field interacting with the Iraqis, has been something less than
ideal. After all, it is the CPA that has maintained tight control over
the resources, but it is the division commanders who have been in
close contact with the Iraqis and who know what the local needs are.
They have too frequently been obliged to fund local activities out of
their quite limited discretionary funds. The civil-military
relationship worked far better in Vietnam -- after Gen. Abrams took
command in 1968. He and Ambassador Bunker worked intimately in
deciding what the needs were for the pacification program, and how to
allocate resources. We should seek to achieve that degree of
collaborative behavior once the new embassy team comes into play this
summer.
• One
final but crucial point. To date, our efforts to communicate with the
Iraqis have been inadequate. We have failed to convey to the Iraqis
what our intentions are -- or have conveyed them belatedly.
Consequently, all too many excellent and well-intentioned actions on
our part have not gotten through to the Iraqi public. It is almost as
important that such plans or such actions be understood, as that they
be executed. The American-sponsored TV station has not been well
designed to attract an audience and has thus been peripheral for Iraqi
viewers. The upshot has been that Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya have
filled the void.
The decision to go into Iraq
was a fateful one -- not only for Iraqis, but for the larger Middle
East and for the credibility of American foreign policy. We must see
it through. Coalition forces, as well as Iraqi forces and government
officials, are now under assault -- some calculated and deliberated,
but some emotional and mindless. It is time for us to remind Iraqis
that if they want a decent life, they must not support the elements
that are destroying their country and may actually be seeking a civil
war. We must persuade Iraqis to foresee the consequences of
frustrating our efforts -- efforts undertaken, let us remember, in
their behalf.
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WASHINGTON — Pat
Tillman, a former pro-football player who left the gridiron to become an
Army Ranger, died during a combat operation in Afghanistan, military
officials said Friday.
The 27-year-old decided to stop playing
for the Arizona Cardinals (search) and
join the Armed Forces after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United
States. He passed up a $3.6 million contract with the NFL team to be a
Ranger.
"Pat Tillman was an inspiration both on
and off the football field. As with all who made the ultimate sacrifice in
the war on terror, his family is in the thoughts and prayers of President
and Mrs. Bush," the White House said in a statement.
Tillman was shot and killed Thursday
during a Special Operations mission southeast of Khost in southeastern
Afghanistan along the border with Pakistan, military officials told Fox
News.
Serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment (search),
Tillman was killed during a search and destroy mission where intelligence
indicated a large presence of Al Qaeda fighters. Two other soldiers were
wounded when in an exchange of small-arms fire.
Stationed at Fort Lewis (search),
Wash., Tillman was deployed overseas in 2003. His brother, Kevin, is also an
Army Ranger serving in Afghanistan and also was a professional athlete — he
played baseball for the Cleveland Indians' organization.
He was married shortly before he joined
the Army. His wife, Marie Tillman, supported his decision.
Tillman is not the first NFL player to be
killed in combat. Buffalo offensive lineman Bob Kalsu was killed by mortar
fire during the Vietnam War in 1970.
'Viewed Life Through
a Different Prism'
Tillman's former teammates and the Arizona
Cardinals organization expressed dismay over his death as they praised him
for his dedication.
"We are all weaker today following this
loss," said Michael Bidwell, Cardinals' vice president. "he was a guy
committed not just to his family ... but to his country, to freedom."
The Arizona State University (search) graduate
spent four seasons with the Cardinals, from 1998 to 2002, before joining the
Army. While at ASU, he had a 3.84 grade point average and graduated in
3-and-a-half years with a degree in marketing.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Tillman was
distinguished by an appetite for rugged play and intelligence. As an
undersized linebacker at ASU, he was the Pac-10's Defensive Player of the
Year in 1997.
Tillman's best season was in 2000 when he
started all 16 games and had 224 tackles.
"Pat was the kind of guy who would rather
have played football in a parking lot than in a stadium with 100,000 people
watching," Tim Layden, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, told Fox
News.
Layden said that Tillman was exceptionally
loyal. Before making the decision to join the Army, he turned down a more
lucrative contract with the St. Louis Rams because he wanted to continue
playing for the team that gave him his NFL start — the Cardinals.
"He just viewed life through a different
prism than a lot of other people do," Layden said.
A Personal Decision
After making the decision to join the
Army, then-Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis said Tillman was "very serious"
about his intent.
"It's very personal, and I honor that. I
honor the integrity of that. It was not a snap decision he woke up and made
yesterday. This has been an ongoing process, and he feels very strongly
about it."
On Friday, after hearing about Tillman's
death, McGinnis said: "I don't know if I have ever met a more dedicated
person in my lifetime."
His agent, Frank Bauer, called the
decision consistent with his client's contemplative, nonmaterialistic
nature.
"This is very consistent with how he
conducts his life," Bauer said in a 2002 interview. "Patty is the type of
guy who is very smart and very loyal. I remember when the Rams made their
offer, he said, 'No, I want to stay with the Cardinals. If I have to play
for the minimum, I don't care.' He axed the offer sheet and played another
year. But he's always had a blueprint for what he wants to do."
Tillman hoped to resume his NFL career
when his enlistment was up, Bauer said in the 2002 interview.
"There is in Pat Tillman's example, in his
unexpected choice of duty to his country over the riches and other comforts
of celebrity, and in his humility, such an inspiration to all of us to
reclaim the essential public-spiritedness of Americans that many of us, in
low moments, had worried was no longer our common distinguishing trait,"
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement.
Fans Leave Messages at Memorial for
No. 40
A memorial was set up outside Cardinals'
headquarters in Tempe, Ariz., with Tillman's No. 40 uniform in a glass frame
alongside two teddy bears and two bouquets. A pen was left for people to
write messages to Tillman's family.
Gov. Janet Napolitano ordered flags at
Arizona State University, Tillman's alma mater, flown at half-staff.
"Pat Tillman personified all the best
values of his country and the NFL," commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in a
statement. "He was an achiever and leader on many levels who always put his
team, his community, and his country ahead of his personal interests."
Former teammate Pete Kendall, the
Cardinals' starting center, said Tillman's death was a jolt of the reality
regarding the nation's fight in the Middle East.
"The loss of Pat brings it home," Kendall
said. "Everyday there are countless families having to get the same news."
Kendall remembered going out with Tillman
and his future wife, Marie.
"We had a meal and a couple of beers,"
Kendall said. "It was a nice night. I really looked forward to buying him
another beer sometime down the road."
Violence and the culture of star athletes. Are there more criminals or heroes in the NFL?
Daniel B. Wood
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
One
week after the final frenzied seconds of what's been called the greatest
Super Bowl, the image still lingers: Tennessee Titan receiver Kevin Dyson,
straining to stretch the football into the end zone.
But in recent weeks, another image has
become almost as indelible in the minds of sports fans: the picture of a
football player in handcuffs.
In the past month, Ray Lewis of the
Baltimore Ravens and Rae Carruth [picture left]
of the Carolina Panthers have been charged with separate murders. The
arrests follow nearly a dozen high-profile arrests of pro players on charges
ranging from assault to sexual battery. But the allegations against Lewis
and Carruth - no active National Football League player has previously been
charged with murder - have prompted the sports world to look more closely at
the trend toward extreme violence among athletes.
While
the NFL argues that the problem is overstated, some say the spate of recent
arrests stems from a long-entrenched leniency toward sports stars in
America. The attitude begins early, allowing high school and college players
to escape responsibility for violent behavior such as thuggery and roughing
up women. Some sociologists say the feeling of invincibility that comes with
multimillion-dollar NFL contracts doesn't help to check bad behavior - and
that the trend toward serious violence reflects a shortcoming within
professional football, if not society at large.
[Image on the right is
another NFL star arrested -- Steve McNair.]
"This long string of high profile arrests
within the NFL ... is bringing much-needed attention to a phenomenon that
has existed for years and is getting worse," says Richard Lapchik, director
of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society at Northeastern University
in Boston. "Whether it is a matter of perception or reality, the increased
focus on a real problem will hopefully increase the likelihood that existing
programs to help will be expanded."
CONFERENCE: Miami Dolphin
running back Cecil Collins (right) speaks with his lawyer at a court
appearance in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Collins was arrested in connection with
a break-in at a neighbor's apartment. The NFL suspended him.
ROBERT MAYER/SUN SENTINEL/AP
Sorting out perception versus reality,
however, is a complicated process. For its part, the NFL stands behind its
record on crime.
"We have fewer incidents involving NFL
players than society at large has," says Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. "Any
number of studies have shown that."
[Arrested
for rape, guilty or not, he certainly cheated on his wife -- long forgotten
in all the headlines --- Koby Bryant.]
Beyond that, he claims that new programs
were begun in 1997 to use counseling, fines, and threat of suspension to
deter players from violent crime. New penalties for alcohol abuse, as well
as leaguewide counseling, anger-prevention programs, and treatment have
helped lower crime statistics among players, he says.
By
the NFL's count, 38 players were arrested in 1997 for violent crime. That
number dropped to 35 in 1998 and 26 in 1999. Convictions are down even
further, they say. In 1997, there were 23 convictions (or accepted plea
bargains) for violent crime. That dropped to 14 in 1998 and five in 1999.
[Image on the right is
Corey Fuller, raided for sponsoring illegal high-stakes gambling games.]
[Even
ice skating has its share of immoral stars. Who can forget Tonya Harding,
and the people she wove into her web of deceit?]
"We feel the numbers are getting better
and better," says Carl Francis, spokesman for the NFL Players Association.
Noting that the league has increased the number of symposiums for players on
lifestyle and emotional counseling, he says: "What else can we do?"
Moreover, he says, players also do a lot of good in their communities,
including public-service announcements and charity work.
But many others - inside the league and
out - say the NFL hasn't done enough, levying only modest fines of several
thousand dollars for those who make millions. Many season-long suspensions,
they add, have been for those who were already injured.
They
cite two recent examples. Orlando Brown, a Cleveland Browns player who
knocked a referee down, was suspended for the season. But he had an eye
injury that would have sidelined him anyway. Cecil Collins, a Miami Dolphin
rookie who was arrested in connection with a break-in at a neighbor's
apartment, was suspended for the season although he already couldn't play
because of a leg injury.
"These kinds of suspensions for players
who are already incapacitated only increases public cynicism about the NFL's
willingness to police its own with seriousness," says William Akin, a sports
psychologist at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa.
Another key reason for public cynicism is
doubt about the NFL's criminal statistics.
[The
image on the right? O. J. Simpson? What role model has he been?]
In "Pros and Cons: The Criminals who play
in the NFL," authors Jeff Benedict and Don Yaeger found that 1 in 5 of the
500 players they surveyed for the 1996-97 season had been charged with a
serious crime such as rape, weapons violations, driving under the influence
of alcohol, or drug-related offenses.
"NFL teams are recruiting
a new breed of criminal players, the likes of which should disturb all NFL
fans," say the authors. "Gone are the good old days of NFL recruits having
rap sheets detailing merely drunken brawls and vandalism. In are the days of
lethal violence, rape, armed robbery home invasion, kidnapping, and drug
dealing."
[It's
not all NFL, but top music stars and Hollywood celebrities. Who is
this one?]
While most sports psychologists say the
real statistics probably lie somewhere between the two claims, they say the
current situation provides ample reason to look at the underlying reasons
for violence off the field. And they say that professional sports should be
striving not to equal the record of the public, but to exceed it and set an
example.
"I don't know why people are surprised
when they hear of arrests like these," says Drew Hyland, author of a book on
the philosophy of sport. "[The players] grow up amidst a background of
violence in society, in a sports milieu of structured mayhem in which they
are coddled from junior high school to college. Then we put them in the most
competitive arena imaginable under all kinds of pressure."
Mr. Hyland and several others insist that
it would be highly unjustified to conclude from recent events that
athletics, football, or the NFL breed criminal behavior.
[All
sports stars should be ashamed of their fellows in jail. Here is one
from the NBA. Hold your mouse over the mug shot to get the rap sheet.]
"Sports, like life, friendship, and love,
can teach lessons which are both good and bad, it's a two-edged sword,"
Hyland says. "The issue for Americans is: Why do we coddle athletes, and why
is our society so violent?" But most feel the current situation may open the
door to more formal efforts to rein in such behavior.
The Center for the Study of Sports in
Society has achieved notable results in gender-violence programs it has
introduced to football players on 65 university campuses. Mr. Lapchik says
one NFL team has been receptive to similar programs, and others may follow.
Also, groups such as the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes have
been formed in the wake of recent incidents.
[The image below left is
Leonard Little. Hold your mouse pointer over the image to read his rap
sheet.]
"The
answer to this is societywide," says Lapchik. "The fact that particular
athletes are arrested for horrible crimes should not make the public think
that all athletes or NFL football players are the same. But [the public]
should realize that in the changing climate of society, these teams and
leagues need to build in programs that will help athletes manage their anger
and resolve conflict, and to better handle their celebrity, money, and
status."
Source
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Let
me underscore why it is that the U.S. is so deeply engaged in the
Middle East and what is at stake in Iraq -- for I fear that there is
some public uncertainty regarding these issues. For that purpose, I
recommend a re-reading of Osama bin Ladin's "Declaration of War
Against the Americans," in which he states that "the Defense Secretary
of the Crusading Americans had said that the explosions at Riyadh and
Al-Khobar had taught him one lesson: that is not to withdraw when
attacked by cowardly terrorists." (I should point out that in 1998 the
defense secretary in question was not Donald Rumsfeld but rather
William Cohen.)
WASHINGTON — Pat
Tillman, a former pro-football player who left the gridiron to become an
Army Ranger, died during a combat operation in Afghanistan, military
officials said Friday.
[Arrested
for rape, guilty or not, he certainly cheated on his wife -- long forgotten
in all the headlines --- Koby Bryant.]
[Even
ice skating has its share of immoral stars. Who can forget Tonya Harding,
and the people she wove into her web of deceit?]
[The
image on the right? O. J. Simpson? What role model has he been?]
