The War on Terror Worsens our Danger

John Gershman
Daily Press (St. Mary's, PA)
August 16, 2004

Sure, al-Qaida still threatens the security of Americans and our allies, but war isn't the most effective way to combat terrorism. Instead, the U.S. should tackle this threat through a strong, coordinated strategy that emphasizes civilian operations and international cooperation.

The war in Iraq has been a costly diversion from security and reconstruction operations in Afghanistan and blocked the restructuring America's military forces need to respond better to this global threat. President George W. Bush's policies have made the U.S. more vulnerable and have opened a new front and a recruiting tool for terrorists while diverting resources from essential homeland security efforts. His approach to homeland security fails to address key vulnerabilities, undermines civil liberties, and misallocates resources.

America needs a new agenda for facing terrorism that secures the nation against attacks and situates the use of force within a framework that respects and reinforces international law. The U.S. must bring international terrorists to justice, debilitate their ability to attack, and undermine the political credibility of their networks.

In responding to the 9/11 Commission, President Bush has proposed to create a new national intelligence director and a new counter-terrorism center as well as extend the USA PATRIOT Act. These initiatives represent little more than reshuffling the boxes on organizational charts. The new intelligence chief would not have the budgetary power necessary to coordinate the activities of the 15 agencies that make up the intelligence community. An unqualified extension of the PATRIOT act will only accelerate the erosion of civil liberties that has occurred since the 9/11 attacks.

Here's an alternative strategy:

FIRST: Strengthen Homeland Security. The U.S. needs to adequately fund key border security programs and agencies such as the Container Security Initiative, the Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. The government should also take more steps to defend the nation's food safety, information technology, nuclear power plants and chemical plants, all of which are currently too vulnerable. Also, the administration needs to provide training, equipment, and increased support to all levels of government to strengthen emergency response capabilities by fire, police, and rescue departments as well as public health systems, all of which will be frontline emergency responders when and if terrorists attack again. Yet the administration's proposed budget cuts funds for emergency responders by nearly $1 billion.

SECOND: Strengthen international institutions. International cooperation is necessary in order to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, AND to identify and prosecute the individuals and organizations that finance, perpetrate, and profit from terrorism. In particular the administration should strengthen international organizations and agreements that support the control, nonproliferation, and elimination of weapons of mass destruction. It should also end the national missile defense system (better known as "Star Wars"), and work harder to control weapons material from Russia and elsewhere.

THIRD: Defend and promote democracy at home and abroad. Antiterrorist efforts should not sacrifice the very values Americans are trying to defend. Washington must listen closely to the mounting concerns of civil libertarians who caution that the new campaign of counter-terrorism may lead to a garrison state. A state that undermines all that America stands for while doing little to protect citizens against unconventional threats. The PATRIOT Act is perhaps the greatest threat to civil liberties in the country today.

FOURTH: Do a better job of attacking the root causes of terrorism. This requires looking beyond any one awful event, horrific as it may be, to address the broader socioeconomic and political contexts from which international terrorism springs.

Because terrorism is a particular kind of violent act aimed at achieving a political objective, a preventive strategy must also address its political roots. Above all, the U.S. must prove to the Middle East and the Islamic World that its "war on terrorism" isn't a war on Islam.

In the nearly three years after the tragic and criminal September 11 attacks, the Bush administration's terrorism policies have weakened multilateral institutions and transformed international support into growing anti-American sentiment. As a result, Bush's global war on terror has, sadly, made Americans more vulnerable in many ways, rather than more secure. It's time to end this war and make a fresh start.

John Gershman is co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org) for the Interhemispheric Resource Center. He is the primary author of "A Secure America in a Secure World," FPIF's upcoming task force report on terrorism.

This op-ed also appeared in the (Medina, NY) Journal-Register, Aventura (FL) News, Camden (AR) News, The (Salida, CO) Mountain Mail, De Witt (AR) Era-Enterprise, Monroe County Democrat (Sparta, WI).

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