WASHINGTON, 9 November — Former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday that terror has existed in America for hundreds of years and the nation is "paying a price today" for its past which includes slavery and the dispossession of American Indians.
"Here in the United States, we were founded as a nation that practiced slavery, and slaves quite frequently were killed even though they were innocent," Clinton told 1,000 students at Georgetown University.
"This country once looked the other way when a significant number of Native Americans were dispossessed and killed to get their land or their mineral rights or because they were thought of as less than fully human."
"And we are still paying the price today," said Clinton, who — true to form — arrived 45 minutes late for the event.
Clinton said he wanted to overturn fears of terrorism and "this anthrax business."
"I submit to you that we are now in a struggle for the soul of the 21st century and the world in which you students will live to raise your own children and make your own way," he said.
Clinton said America’s current fight with international terrorism dates back thousands of years.
"In the first Crusade, when the Christian soldiers took Jerusalem, they first burned a synagogue with 300 Jews in it and proceeded to kill every woman and child who was a Muslim... I can tell you that story is still being told today in the Middle East and we are still paying for it."
Clinton said America must pay more attention to its enemies, and to how the rest of the world views the United States.
"There are a lot of people who see the world differently than we do... It is quite important that we do more to build the pool of potential partners in the world and to shrink the pool of potential terrorists. And that has nothing to do with fighting, but this has to do with what else we do...
"This is partly a Muslim issue, because there is a war raging within Islam," the former president said. "We need to reach out and engage the Muslim world in a debate."
Addressing globalization issues, Clinton discussed the importance of such issues as technology, poverty, democracy, diversity, the environment, disease and terrorism.
"Here’s how I think you ought to think about it," he said. "We cannot ignore the fact that we are vulnerable at home because of our interdependence."
The answer, Clintons aid, is to spread freedom and democracy, reduce global poverty, forgive billions in debt, improve health care systems and encourage — even fund — education in developing countries.
"We ought to pay for these children to go to school — it’s a lot cheaper than going to war," he said.
