The U.S. government is in danger of becoming a major recruiter for terrorists, the head of a human rights organization told a convention of international educators Tuesday.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said the fight against terrorism should involve more than military might and called on his audience to help "substitute the culture of human rights for the culture of terror" throughout the world.
That's the only way to reach would-be terrorists, Roth said, criticizing the Bush administration for focusing solely on security. "Our government is not only taking a lead in fighting terror . . . but also it risks becoming the major recruiter for the terrorists."
His comments came during the opening session of the 55th annual conference of NAFSA, the association of international educators. Some 5,300 members from around the world are gathered in Salt Lake City this week for the conference.
The educators, Roth said, "are in a position to promote respect and appreciation for the values that help hold this world together. We need to show through the programs that you all run that it is a sign of strength, not weakness, to submit to global standards."
Roth described a number of instances where he believes the Bush administration is not honoring those values, including its treatment of prisoners from the war in Afghanistan and its reluctance to confront countries with questionable human rights records.
Sending American students abroad and inviting foreign students to this country "is essential for showing that the American way is not the only way. In fact, it's often not even the best way. We all have something to learn from others," Roth said.
He said he was not speaking as "a fan of blind multilateralism," noting that Human Rights Watch, the largest U.S.-based international human rights organization, is one of the biggest critics of the United Nations.
"I understand the limits of international government," Roth said. "I'm talking about international standards."
Also speaking at Tuesday's session was Richard W. Riley, who served as U.S. secretary of education in the Clinton administration. Riley, too, spoke of the importance of international education after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
"Scholarly links are a first step toward international understanding," Riley said.
He warned the Americans in the audience against retreating into "educational isolationism and try to seal off our country and our campuses from the rest of the world. That would be precisely the wrong message to draw from 9/11.
"Nevertheless, we need to remember that the United States became a great power and remains a great power not just because of our military might," Riley said, "but because we remain committed to the ideals that define our democracy."
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