March 10, 2004
Words from a warrior
Former Navy SEAL discusses Iraq and the world of terrorism
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq: they're there and will eventually be found.
Another domestic terrorist attack: inevitable, but not commercial planes anymore because passengers will act.
Iraqi strategy: turn the water on, get the lights on, get the oil running and pull out.
The world according to Chuck Pfarrer is as straightforward as his SEAL training and experiences. The Bellaire resident is a former Navy SEAL who for eight years immersed himself in the world of terrorists on multiple continents, gaining a unique perspective on what for many is the most important issue of the time.
An accomplished screenwriter with movies such as "Virus" and "Hard Target" to his credit, Pfarrer published "Warrior Soul" in December, compiling his SEAL life and memories into one place.
Tapping into his book, Pfarrer discussed his views on terrorism and it's history as well as the two Gulf wars and Iraq's future with an audience of 60 people Saturday evening at Horizon Books. His talk was also recorded for future broadcast on C-SPAN.
An intense, articulate and engaging speaker, Pfarrer lectured for nearly an hour before opening the floor for questions. He later signed books, warmly greeting each person and giving an extra thanks to any veteran of the armed services.
His candor and unusual perspective on world events captivated many in the audience.
"If Mr. Pfarrer could talk to everybody and we could spend more time listening to people like him," said Ken Thompson of Traverse City, an Army veteran. "Instead of the media we spend hours with every day, with their lies."
"We just don't know what we don't know," added Thompson, referring to Pfarrer's discussion of a recalled American strike force following the Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon.
"It was very enlightening and informative," said Jim Leffew of Traverse City. "I think some of this stuff should be heard more often."
Pfarrer began his discussion with the topic of nation building, giving attendees a mini-history lesson of the Middle East since World War I. As new countries were carved from the defunct Ottoman Empire, the seeds of today's terrorism were unintentionally sewn, he said.
"Britain looked at Mesopotamia and literally used a grease pencil to make countries," Pfarrer said. "In Iraq they plucked someone out of a tent and made him the king."
He then focused on Lebanon, a war torn country that had numerous disaffected minorities and decades of internal strife. Beginning in the late 1960s, the country was a hotbed for terrorists, including Yasser Arafat and the PLO, who a SEAL team later escorted to Cyprus.
"The rule of law [in Lebanon] bowed down to the rule of Kalashnikov," Pfarrer said.
When Marines were deployed as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force in 1983, Pfarrer and his SEAL team were on the ground with them. The Toyota truck bomb that exploded on October 23 took out the barracks and killed 243 Marines. The United States withdrew from the country and cancelled a decisive retaliatory strike at the last minute.
"For the next 20 years, nobody was in control of Lebanon and it became a farm club for terrorists," Pfarrer said. "During the 1980s, Iraq was also a haven for terrorism."
Segueing to Iraq, Pfarrer said he was going out on a limb to predict there were weapons of mass destruction yet to be found.
"I can tell you this: Saddam Hussein killed 500,000 Iranians with chemical weapons, these were weapons he had, not some geeky scientist with a petri dish," he noted, adding his chicken coop theory. "They are not in a bunker somewhere, they are dispersed; I think they are going to be difficult to find, but we'll find them. All the papers for the nuclear program are buried somewhere under a chicken coop."
Pfarrer also discussed the hunt for Osama bin Laden, a person he said will forever be under at $25 million dollar shadow.
"For the rest of his life, everyone who hands him a cup of coffee, a paper clip, a cell phone, will have to pass the $25 million game," he said, referring to the reward offered for bin Laden. "He'll eventually be betrayed."
Despite setbacks, he is guardedly optimistic for the future of Iraq, saying the people there are emerging from a tyranny few can imagine. He also noted that terrorism is the new method by which wars will be fought.
"The United States is insurmountable in conventional warfare," Pfarrer said. "No one is going to want to fight that way, they're going to want asymmetrical warfare of terrorism."