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Friday, June 25, 2004

News

General lectures on terror war

Global threat hits home for Idaho economy


By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Idaho Adjutant Gen. John Kane was in Sun Valley this week making a case for sending Idaho’s National Guard troops to fight in Iraq, just as the U.S. mission shifts from occupying force to support units for the new interim government.

Beyond Iraq, Kane said the lecture was intended to explain why Guard troops are needed for the global war on terror.

Gen. John Kane Idaho adjutant general. Express photo by Matt Furber

Speaking in the Limelight Room at Sun Valley Lodge Wednesday, June 23, Kane made a three-part presentation describing the economic impact of the National Guard for Idaho and how the Guard fits into the structure of the U.S. Army. In the third part of his presentation Kane lectured the audience—who had come to an Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry conference—about the Islamic Caliphate and why Muslim extremists are such a menacing adversary.

Originally the term Caliphate referred to the political entity that filled the void in the Muslim world after the death of Muhammad in A.D. 632.

The Caliphate comprised relatives and followers of Muhammad, today those who believe in the "old ways of Islam" are struggling to hold on to their position in the world, Kane said. Extremists are driving the message, he said.

Kane shared details about the history of the Guard as a whole, describing some of the conflicts the Guard has participated in during its 100-year history.

He also gave background as to how the Guard fits in the state economic picture.

As the 12th largest employer in the state, the Guard employs a substantial number of Idahoans who will work fighting the war on terror. The first wave of Guard troops left for combat training at Fort Bliss, Texas, earlier this month. The balance of those called up from Idaho, for a total of 2,100 Idahoans, will join the advance team for training followed by 12 to 18 month tours of active duty in Iraq.

"Make no mistake about it, it is a war," said National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, who attends the general on his public speaking engagements.

"The Guard is fully integrated into the ‘total force’ of the military," Marsano said. "We stand as the reserves for the active duty forces. The Army can’t really go to war without us."

Just as Idaho communities are contributing troops, the Guard’s economic contribution to the state filters in large part through its facilities in 26 Idaho communities, Kane said. Guard operations are funded by 33 federal dollars to every state dollar, with total combined assets of $1.3 billion in the state.

Kane said the Guard brings about $192 million in federal funds into the state annually and operates with $5.9 million in state funds. There are approximately 4,600 employees spread between the Army National Guard, Air National Guard and the Office of Homeland Security in Idaho.

Since 1997 the Guard has spent $123 million on construction, which is federal money used to improve military facilities. Kane said the guard has been hiring local construction workers for the work.

Some conference attendees said they welcomed the lecture because they felt Kane did a good job clarifying the impact and the role of the Guard. For example, National Guard troops make up over 50 percent of the U.S. Army on active duty today, Kane said.

Marsano said the general’s briefing was actually composed by his son, Maj. Scott Kane, a veteran of the first Gulf War and a military intelligence analyst with a background in the study of Islam and Islamic politics.

In addition to briefing generals, part of Scott Kane’s job is to craft a pitch for selling the public on the U.S. war on terrorism.

The general’s lecture is "a broad brush view of what’s going on with what the U.S. calls extremists," Scott Kane said.

Marsano said the lecture is intended to help the lay man understand the roots of the global war on terrorism.

"The briefing gives people a concept of what people from Idaho are going to do and why they are being sent over there," Marsano said.

Some listening to Kane’s justification for the war on terrorism expressed discomfort with his descriptions of how some Muslims hate the U.S.

Kane said the extremist threat to the West comes from those Muslims who would see total sovereignty of the Caliphate, which is in opposition to the worldwide trend toward globalization.

As the world becomes a more homogeneous economic culture—Kane called it the "McWorld syndrome"—Muslim countries are threatened by diminished economic sovereignty.

"The Caliphate doesn’t like McDonald’s because it represents everything that’s bad in the world."

Kane said some people find the strong language he uses to describe the motives of would be Muslim terrorists inflammatory. For that reason he does not distribute copies of his slide presentation, which is a discourse on why some Muslims hate Western industrialized countries.

Kane likens the U.S. role of the war on terror to the job of the goalie. The goalkeeper may stop many shots on goal but it is the one that hits that counts.

"What makes us vulnerable is that we are an open society," Scott Kane said. "The bad guys think long term ... it took six years to plan the second attack on the World Trade Center."

Kane’s point is that terrorism is not going to go away and to protect U.S. interests and security abroad and at home, U.S. military policy must counter the threat if need be with force.


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The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.





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