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.