Diplomat watched growth of world terrorism threat

Jace Radke

Thursday, March 14, 2002 | 9:02 a.m.

Robert Oakley, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan from 1988 to 1991, witnessed changes in the Middle East that he believes eventually contributed to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"You could see it building at that time with the increasing radicalism within the Muslim and Arab communities," Oakley, from his Washington office, said during a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon. "There was more and more terrorism as we moved toward Sept. 11, so people did see that something was coming, but we didn't see the enormity of it.

"It's like the nuclear bomb. We knew scientifically what it could do, but we really didn't know the scope until we saw it."

Oakley, who spent 34 years in the diplomatic service before his retirement in 1991, will speak about the War on Terrorism and its impact at this week's meeting of the Consular Corps College in Las Vegas.

Oakley will address the public and college, a professional organization composed of diplomatic officials representing 40 countries, at a banquet Friday at the Palms.

The 71-year-old entered the foreign service in 1957 and was assigned to Khartoum, Sudan. He also has been stationed in places such as Vietnam, France, Lebanon and Somalia.

"There is a degree of global interdependence, and we have to find a way to work with all these countries because we can't get off this world if we wanted to," Oakley said. "In Las Vegas the tourist trade is heavily relied upon, and in other places its high technology or business exports, but they're all related."

Oakley believes that global cooperation in intelligence gathering and law enforcement is essential toward the elimination of terrorism. The battle will be a tough one, as the ideas bringing the world closer together are also being used by terrorists, Oakley said.

"We see the tools of globalization as positive, but they can also be used by terrorists," Oakley said. "The free travel of money, people and the Internet are all things that the global community has to adjust to."

Oakley will speak at 7 p.m. Friday at the Palms Grand Ballroom. The event will be open to the public and the cost is $100 per person.