Know thy enemy, Udall tells students

Owen S. Good, News Staff Writer

Published September 19, 2001 at midnight

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BOULDER -- U.S. Rep. Mark Udall understands there's not much sympathy for the Middle East right now.

To thousands of Americans, the best response to last Tuesday's terrorist attacks is a catastrophic bombing campaign, not introspection on U.S. policies, or how they relate to the region's anger and disaffection.

"It's not surprising people feel this way," the Colorado Democrat told a reporter Tuesday. "Hell, I have felt that way myself."

But in a classroom discussion with 250 University of Colorado students, Udall framed the understanding of Middle East outrage as a piece of intelligence in a military campaign, critical to exploiting an enemy's weaknesses, not the guilty shouldering of the world's burdens.

"We have to be that pragmatic, that cold and calculating," Udall said later, walking to his car with an armed police detective. "There's nothing squishy about that. It would be utilizing another one of our tools to root out terrorism and make the world safer."

Udall will meet with students at Boulder High School today, before heading back to Washington, where Congress will reconvene Thursday. He had not had a bodyguard follow him to public appearances since the Columbine shootings, he said.

Students at the CU forum questioned how the United States could respond appropriately, without sacrificing its values at home or innocent life abroad. Those answers will not come easily, Udall said, as Congress and President Bush determine how to wage the war on terrorism.

But something must be done, he said, because the loss of life Sept. 11 -- estimated in the thousands -- shows terrorists' willingness to escalate destruction on an exponential scale.

"When they get a nuclear bomb, they are going to figure out a way to use it," Udall said. "They are driven by motivations and a world view foreign to us."

Udall said the global barrage of American culture is seen as the U.S. flaunting its opportunities to lands that have very little. "They see these images and think it's not possible for them."

Of the 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, few "really have functioning democracies" where they live, with "safety-valves" for social resentment, such as protest or elections. Anti-Americanism is the only real outlet for anger, he said.

But pressing a ground war into Afghanistan could be counterproductive, he said. The Soviet Union sowed the rugged land with bombs during a 10-year occupation and still pulled out in defeat. Dragging Pakistan into the conflict could bring nuclear rival India, and possibly China, to the battlefield, Udall said.

The CU students seemed pensive about the use of force, whereas Udall returns to a chamber thrumming with war sentiment. He thinks Congress, however, will hold off on reactionary measures.

The students and Congress "are both in a learning process," he said, "and I bet more members of Congress than not will have serious qualms about killing thousands to root out terrorism."

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