Defeating Terrorism 2

Defeating Terrorism

DEFEATING TERRORISM

"To defeat terrorism, we must eliminate both the terrorists and the conditions that produce them."

Our first and foremost priority is to prevent an attack within our boarders. Therefore, we must continue to improve the effectiveness of the Department of Homeland Security to thwart the ever changing targets and methods of potential terrorist attacks.

However, no amount of defensive measures can prevent all terrorist attacks. Even if we sacrifice our civil liberties, erect walls along our borders, subject ourselves to invasions of privacy and unreasonable search and seizure, a terrorist attack can occur at anytime and anywhere. A multi-billion dollar missile defense system would not have stopped the attacks of September 11. We have to accept our inevitable vulnerability to terrorist attack.

That doesn't mean of course that we abandon intelligence gathering, airport security, port and rail security, covert military action and other measures that are feasible and effective in preventing an attack. However, we must also be proactive in finding and destroying terrorist organizations wherever they exist, and in eliminating the conditions that give rise to terrorism.

Defeating terrorism requires a comprehensive strategy that focuses on the following key objectives: preventing future terrorist attacks, capturing or killing the terrorists and especially their leadership, and preventing the further spread of terrorism. As such, it includes other key program and policy areas: Homeland Security, National Security and Foreign Policy.

Homeland Security is our last line of defense against a terrorist attack. Until and unless we can eradicate terrorism and its causes throughout the world, we must remain ever vigilant to attacks within our borders. And in the unfortunate event an attack is carried out, we must have an immediate and coordinated response at all levels of government to prevent loss of life. Unfortunately, the recent devastation of hurricane Katrina shows that even four years after the 9-11 attacks, we are still woefully unprepared to respond to a catastrophic event.

Therefore, I will work diligently and relentlessly to make sure we allocate the necessary resources t 1) protect America from a terrorist attack; and 2) prepare to respond immediately and effectively if we are attacked.

Although considerable tax dollars have been allocated and spent for homeland security, the United States is still vulnerable. It is critical that we evaluate how money is being spent and reallocate where necessary to secure our boarders, ports, rail transportation systems, chemical and nuclear plants, fuel storage facilities, and water and food supplies.

To respond to a catastrophic event whether from an act of nature or from a terrorist group, requires preparing in advance a coordinated response for different catastrophic events, having the necessary resources available and deploying those resources immediately in a well coordinated effort among federal, state and local agencies and governments.

National Security and Foreign Policy are equally important in protecting the United States, by coordinating intelligence gathering and dissemination, diplomacy, military and economic power, and emergency preparedness. All of these elements must be utilized, combined with the cooperation of other countries. Because terrorist organizations are dispersed throughout the world, we must depend on the cooperation of other nations to seek out and capture or kill terrorists operating within their boarders. Unfortunately, our nation's invasion of Iraq for reasons that proved to be false has seriously damaged U.S. credibility in the world and made it much more difficult to secure international support in our ongoing efforts to defeat terrorism. Therefore, it is imperative that we work to restore U.S. credibility and build a truly global effort to defeat terrorism.

One impediment to stopping the spread of terrorism is how we misunderstand and mischaracterize the nature of terrorism and those who carry out acts of terrorism. John Linder in a press release of July 14, 2005, characterized terrorist attacks as "cowardly," perpetrated by "those who hate freedom and liberty." This type of assessment plays to our patriotic sense of self-righteousness but ignores the complex issues and conditions and our nation's oil based foreign policy, that contribute to the rise of terrorist organizations that would attack the U.S.

To stop the spread of terrorism, we must seek to understand the origins of terrorism and work to eliminate the conditions which exist to produce a seemingly unlimited supply of suicide bombers. As a government and a people, we need to reach out to people of all nations and faiths to develop a dialogue for addressing our differences. We must also work to end injustice and poverty and stop providing support to governments that do not respect human rights. We must also examine how our foreign policy affects the spread of terrorism, and we must eliminate our dependence on foreign oil as the driving force in our foreign policy. Unless we address the root causes, we will be fighting terrorism indefinitely.

Colin Powell said it best: "The United States cannot win the war on terrorism unless we confront the social and political roots of poverty. We want to bring people to justice if they commit acts of terrorism, but we also want to bring justice to people."

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