By Robert Jordan
On
the morning of September 11, 2001 I arrived at the board meeting of a
charitable foundation in Dallas, Texas. This would be my farewell meeting, as
President George W Bush had announced his intention to make me the next US
ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Before
the meeting began, a fellow board member rushed in to tell us that an airplane
had just hit the World Trade Center. As details of the hijackings emerged, the
connections to Saudi Arabia became apparent. I realised that my assignment had
just become far more difficult.
Within
a month my nomination was confirmed, and after a hastily arranged swearing-in
ceremony with the then-secretary of state, Colin Powell, I was on my way to
Riyadh.
By
the time I arrived, the US military response to the September 11 attacks was in
full force. Within days I was next to General Tommy Franks asking King Abdullah
(then the crown prince) to support coalition efforts in Afghanistan.
Outrage
at the attacks was expressed from many quarters, even from the bin Laden
family. I received a letter of abject apology from the head of the family in
Jeddah. Countless Saudis signed a condolence book.
And
yet we also began to see disturbing outbursts in the US media accusing all
Muslims of hatred and terrorist sympathies. This was bitterly resented in Saudi
Arabia; Saudi attendance at US universities declined significantly and business
and holiday travel were curtailed. Saudis could no longer get visas without
intrusive scrutiny.
Congressional
delegations took every opportunity to question the values and trustworthiness
of many in the Arab world. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict reached new levels
of violence, anger and desperation. Cooperation in rooting out Al Qaeda cells
and sympathisers was uneven and slow, often complicated by a lack of
coordination and cultural understanding on both sides. We truly seemed to be
moving towards a clash of civilisations.
Much
has changed since that dark time in 2001. US and regional security forces have
learnt to take the initiative in going after extremists. After an intensive
campaign, improved intelligence and aggressive police work, Saudi Arabia has
made great strides against Al Qaeda in the kingdom.
Saudi
and US intelligence analysts sit shoulder to shoulder in a joint centre.
Increasingly, ordinary Saudi citizens have reported suspicious activity. Many
extremists have been captured or killed. And many courageous Saudi police
officers have paid with their lives.
The
killing of Osama bin Laden and other senior Al Qaeda leaders signals another
change since 2001. When the Arab Spring swept in, the protesters, rebels and
emerging leaders came not from Al Qaeda, but from the middle and working
classes. The perpetrators of September 11 were irrelevant.
In
the Arabian Gulf states we are seeing massive infrastructure projects. Students
from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region have returned in large
numbers to US campuses; US universities are opening branches in the Gulf.
If
September 11 changed the way we view conflict, it has not shown us a clear path
to resolving world tensions. We have learnt the hard way that there is not a
military solution to every crisis. We also have learnt that no country, not
even a superpower, can go it alone on the world stage.
As
we enter the "post-post-September 11" decade, what will be our values
and goals for the future? First, we can build upon the resilience that has been
tested on every continent in recent years. From overcoming the shock waves of
the September 11 attacks to recovering from tsunamis to overthrowing a Libyan
dictator, the human spirit has shown a capacity to weather enormous obstacles.
We
saw this resilience when Saudi families noticed suspicious behaviour among
their neighbours and took responsibility for contacting the authorities. We saw
it again when citizens of Benghazi endured attacks from government troops and
refused to give up.
In
a new world, security will rely less upon a "with us or against us"
mentality and more upon an understanding of the limits and costs of military
power. Clear-eyed realisation that threats truly exist should prevent apathy.
The expensive lessons of the past decade will inform efforts to tell real
threats from illusory ones.
The
resilience of societies will again be tested, but we can all pray that we learnt
something from the wrenching experience that we memorialise this day in
September.
-This commentary was published in The National
on 11/09/2011-Robert W Jordan is a former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the partner in charge of the Middle East practice of the law firm Baker Botts
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