Matthews reviews hot topics
By JASON McFARLEY
News Editor
U.S. leaders should continue the war on terrorism but be cautious that the American campaign doesn't spur a holy war with Islamic Middle Eastern nations, Chris Matthews, host of the cable news political talk show "Hardball," said Monday at Notre Dame.
American response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks threatens a war with not only with Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is suspected to be hiding, but also with other Islamic countries like Pakistan and Iraq, Matthews said.
And that plays into bin Laden's game, according to Matthews.
"Bin Laden is an evil genius," the political author and nationally syndicated columnist said to an audience of more than 350 that filled a campus auditorium to overflowing. "With 16 guys who were willing to get on planes and take them over with box-cutters, he killed 6,000 Americans. He knew that we'd respond with guns blazing."
"He wants a blood war between the East and the West, but I don't want that war. No one in this room will live to see the end of that war. But that's his strategy. That's the scenario that he wants," Matthews said.
Matthews' hour-long appearance Monday at times resembled his CNBC and MSNBC talk show. The politically conservative host was frank but humorous in his critique of the U.S. government's handling of the terrorist attacks.
And during the talk, "Washington Today: The Inside View," Matthews skipped from discussing former President Clinton and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to downplaying concerns about anthrax and bio-terrorism.
In fact, Matthews arrived 15 minutes late for the lecture following a reported case of anthrax in New York Monday night. Matthews walked into the Carey Auditorium to a thoughtful applause just minutes after taping last-minute coverage of the anthrax case to for an episode of "Hardball" that he filmed earlier Monday at local NBC affiliate WNDU.
"I'm not spooked about anthrax, but a lot of people are. I can't understand why they are," Matthews said on a day that witnessed Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's Washington office received a letter containing the bacteria.
Amid scares about the disease and impending war, however, Americans have been resilient and united.
"Resilience is one of the great strength of this country," Matthews said, noting that Sunday was the first time he had flown since the Sept. 11 strikes.
"We've never been as united before as we are now … there's eye contact in New York," he said in a tongue-in-cheek remark that drew laughs from the audience.
Matthews made a distinction between American patriotism and the religious zealotry that followers exhibit in bin Laden's terrorist network. He likened their Islamic fundamentalist beliefs to martyrdom, calling it "pretty scary stuff."
U.S. values are different in that they're based on freedom and democracy, the political journalist said, and Americans should make reasonable efforts to spread those values.
"A lot of people look up to us as a truly free country," he said. "I think this is a country full of opportunities where you can do what you want. There's nowhere else in the world that you can say that about."
"But I think a lot of these Islamic people prefer to live in a society that's more regimented and where you don't have all these freedoms. It's about opportunities for these people. These are not all bad people. American leaders have to thread the needle when it comes to foreign policy. You can't just go to war with all these countries," Matthews said.
Matthews, a booming-voiced speaker parodied frequently in "Saturday Night Live" skits that portray his no-nonsense approach to journalism, said U.S. strategy against bin Laden and the Taliban regime supporting him should be tough and economical.
While bin Laden's plan is to have U.S. forces slaughter thousands of Islamic people, the America should be economical in terms of its own casualties and the enemy's casualties.
"We'll have to think and act tough to get our goals accomplished," he said. "You can't just will a better world, you have to work for it."
But that poses a dilemma for both the Middle East and the United States, Matthews acknowledged.
Even though their governments support terrorist activity, some Islamic countries have legitimate complaints about U.S. policy, Matthews said.
For America, the problem is not just overturning radical governments overseas but doing so without appearing tyrannical, according to Matthews.
"The issue is to kill the bad guys and the networks that support them, all the while figuring out ways to deal with an Arab world which is stagnant and trying," he said. "I fear that we're setting up this Biblical blood war where we're going to look like the bad guys."
"Think about it. If you're a 15-year-old living in Cairo [Egypt] in a cardboard box, who are you going to root for? bin Laden. We have to hope not to get into a blood war with Islam," Matthews said.
All News Stories for Tuesday, October 16, 2001
