Bob Kerrey: “I rise to comment on a disturbing trend I see arising in the aftermath of the terrorist killing of our military…”

“I rise to comment on a disturbing trend I see arising in the aftermath of the terrorist killing of our military personnel in Saudi Arabia. I am concerned because I believe we may be developing a response that plays right into the terrorists' hands. I frankly question some of the responses coming out of the Congress. Some of these responses neglect answering the fundamental question: Why did the terrorists choose to kill Americans in Dhahran on June 25, 1996? This question is fundamental because if you answer it, you will immediately reach some conclusions about the right and wrong response to the bombing. I say to my colleagues, in order to understand the next steps we should be taking as a nation, you must try to put yourself in the mind of the terrorists to determine what they want. Based on all of the rhetoric and the history of terrorism in this region, there are, in my view, as least three things the terrorists want to have happen as a result of their attacks. First, they want to divide Saudi Arabia from the United States. Second, they want to force the United States out of Saudi Arabia. Third, they want to make it more difficult for the United States to deploy its forces overseas. If these are in fact the goals of the terrorists, and I believe they are, some reactions in Congress and the media are playing right into the terrorists' hands.”