Interview with the Former Secretary of State Gen. Alexander M.Haig Jr.WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Former Secretary of State Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr. said Monday Syria, not Iraq, should be the next target in the war against international terrorism. His comments came in an exclusive interview with United Press International's Editor at Large, Arnaud de Borchgrave.
PW: Following are the excerpts from the interview
[...]
Q -- What about the need to face common transnational threats that now
loom larger than Russia as a potential threat?
A -- Responding to global threats that are not specifically focused on
one of NATO's members would complicate the implementation of Article V
of the NATO treaty.
Q -- But Article 5 was invoked the day after 9-11 by the European allies who solemnly declared that the attack against America was an attack against them all. They were referring to transnational terrorism. Therefore, the same enemy threatens Russia the same way -- witness non-Chechens fighting the Russian army in Chechnya and Chechens fighting with al Qaida in Afghanistan. And China is also threatened by Islamist terrorists. Doesn't all this militate in favor of a new global security system?
A -- Well, I think all that has begun. In fact, it's made some people in Europe quite nervous. It's made some Americans nervous. But it's a wise and prudent thing. It has to be done at a very measured pace.
Q -- In what way has President Bush moved toward a new global security system?
A -- The Warsaw speech when he said Russia is no longer our enemy, that
NATO wants to cooperate with them, and he didn't discount future NATO
membership for Russia.
Q -- Would you favor that?
A -- It depends on many things that are yet to take place.
Q -- Wouldn't NATO membership for Russia encourage Moscow toward real
democracy at a faster pace?
A -- It depends on what Russia wants. If they genuinely want to move to full democracy and a market economy governed by the rule of law, it would be hard to argue against it. We don't have enemies just because we need enemies. You have enemies because they are enemies. As for your remark about Chechnya, there is an awful lot to be said for the fact that Russian policies in Chechnya are still unacceptable.
Q -- You mean their methods, rather than the target?
A -- Russia signed a treaty with Chechnya that promised a large measure
of autonomy that was never delivered. Out of an understandable
motivation to try to improve relations with Russia and make them an
ally
instead of an enemy in the struggle against terrorism, because they are
indeed threatened by Muslim fundamentalism in a geopolitical sense, we
should never endorse a violation of Western values, such as the
indiscriminate use of military power against innocent civilians. That's
what's going on in Chechnya.
Q -- Isn't it a colonial problem similar to Algeria that was once
considered to be an integral part of metropolitan France and where the
French used indiscriminate force to suppress aspirations for
independence until President (Charles) De Gaulle cast Algeria loose a
an
independent country?
A -- It should be negotiated by Russia according to solemn undertakings
that were never implemented.
Q -- But you have quite a few al Qaida Arabs fighting the Russian
"infidel" in Chechnya.
A -- I think that's questionable.
Q -- I've met Arabs who fought in Chechnya. Some of the teachers in
Pakistani madrassas (religious schools) are veterans of Chechnya.
A -- I'd be careful about overdramatizing that aspect.
Q -- Quite a few of al Qaida's foreign legionnaires captured in
Afghanistan were Chechens.
A -- I think you'll find that most of them were Saudis. You'd better
get
the figures on that. You'll find that the Russians are using a handful
as a justification for genocide.
[...]
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