SPEECH Clinton Discusses Life After Sept. 11 Gives Advice, Consolation By Arianne Aryanpur Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Former President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) spoke to a packed Gaston Hall on Wednesday about the threat of terrorism.

America’s entrance into an era of growing global interdependence and worldwide information exchange will result in increased vulnerability to terrorist acts as evidenced by Sept. 11, former President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) said Wednesday.

In his speech to a capacity Gaston Hall audience composed mostly of students, Clinton outlined the two things he thinks the nation should do following Sept. 11. In addition to winning the present battle against al-Qaeda, America should find ways to decrease future terrorist attacks, Clinton said.

The former president said that as a U.S. citizen he supports the Bush administration’s efforts in fighting the current terrorist threat, and encouraged the audience to do so as well.

Clinton urged attendees to keep three things in mind as America wages the existing war. First, he reminded the audience of the long and oft-forgotten history of terrorism.

“The killing of non-combatants – for economic, political or religious reasons – has a very long history, as long as organized combat itself,” Clinton said. He reminded the audience that people from European lineages are not blameless of committing terror. “Here in the United States we were founded as a nation of slavery, and slaves quite frequently were killed even though they were innocent,” he said. “This country once looked the other way when significant numbers of Native Americans were dispossessed and killed.”

While terrorism has a long history, no terrorist campaign standing by itself has ever won, Clinton said. “It is important to remember that normally terrorism has backfired and never has it succeeded on its own.”

Finally, Clinton assured the audience that while those who take up arms seem to win initially, the victimized prevail with their defense. “In the whole history of combat, offense always wins first,” he said. “Then, sooner or later, decent people get together and figure out how to defend themselves.” Clinton referred to the public’s fear of global self-destruction after Pearl Harbor. While some foresaw impending nuclear war to be inevitable, “no bomb was ever dropped again after Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he said.

Clinton also reassured the audience of the government’s ability to handle the current terrorist threat. “In the years that I served, career law enforcement officials worked with our intelligence service and others . [to prevent] many more terrorist attacks than were successful,” he said.

Clinton added that while the proximity of the attacks and recent anthrax outbreaks can be troubling, America must learn to live with this changed local and global reality.

“You cannot be paralyzed by this . the purpose of terrorism to is to make you afraid to get up in the morning, afraid of the future and afraid of each other,” Clinton said, encouraging students to not give into the terrorists’ intentions.

The former president challenged the audience to think back to Sept. 10. “Try and remember how you viewed the world on Sept. 10,” he said. “If I had asked you on that day what is the single most dominant element of the 20th century world, what would your answer be?”

According to Clinton, globalization of the economy, the information technology revolution, advances in biological sciences and the growth of democracy and diversity, were all positive elements of the last century.

Still, global poverty, environmental crises such as global warming, health epidemics like AIDS and a lack of education tainted the century and continue to perpetuate global terrorism, Clinton said.

He said that America cannot reap the benefits of a new interdependent world without simultaneously becoming more vulnerable to terrorism at home. “I think it is very important that you see Sept. 11 as the dark side of all the benefits we have gotten from tearing down the walls, collapsing the distances and spreading the information we have across the world,” he said. Global advances bring an increase in potential threats, he said.

In order to increase America’s pool of allies and decrease the pool of terrorists, Clinton suggested the nation address global problems, while emphasizing the importance of reinforcing democracy.

He said America should enact programs to decrease poverty, help the underprivileged utilize their assets and reverse health and environmental crises. Clinton noted that educating citizens of non-democratic countries of the world is crucial.

“It is no accident that most of these terrorists come from non-democratic countries,” he said. “Democracies, by and large, don’t go to war with each other, don’t sponsor terrorist acts against each other and are more likely to be reliable partners, protect the environment and abide by the law.”

Clinton said that citizens of non-democratic nations are often kept in a collective state of immaturity because their governments do not require them to take responsibility for themselves. This sort of governmental indoctrination makes it easy for citizens “to believe that someone else’s success is the cause of their distress,” he said.

Many people with good characters tend to become poisoned, Clinton said, citing an article he had read about a misguided uslim student.

“[The student] was taught . that dinosaurs existed because Americans and Jews recreated them to devour Muslims,” he said. “But he was a good kid – he didn’t teach himself that.”

Clinton closed by urging attendees to face the challenges of the future with resolve and optimism.

University President John J. DeGioia introduced Clinton following opening remarks by Lecture Fund Chair Brian McCabe (SFS ’02). Tickets for Wednesday’s speech, which was co-sponsored by the Lecture Fund and the School of Foreign Service, were distributed Sunday and Monday in Leavey Center.

Clinton’s speech marked the second time he has visited Georgetown since Sept. 11. Last month Clinton and Former Senate ajority Leader Bob Dole presented a scholarship fund campaign at the university for the children and spouses of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.