Terrorism and Foreign Policy
- Clarify the purpose of the United Nations (and withdraw if necessary) and our position in it (the purpose is to provide a forum for resolving disputes; it is not to develop world social policy)
- Promote democracy around the world
- We must define our allies.
- A. Review existing treaties such as NATO which states: "They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of their peace and security...Art 3. In order more effectively to achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the parties , separately and jointly, by means of continuous and effective self help and mutual aid, will maintain and develop their individual and collective ability to resist armed attack."
Is the alliance formed by this treaty being upheld by all the parties? - B. Anti-Terrorism Treaty - The United States must pursue a treaty among nations that provides:
- All religions respected/permitted
- An agreement to cooperate in the war on terror (including shared financial information, intelligence and law enforcement)
- Protect nuclear, biological and chemical materials
- Implementation of tougher immigration standards and unified cooperation to enforce laws
- No support, harboring or encouraging of terrorist activities
- 90 days to sign
- Any country not signing:
- No U.S. aid
- No U.S. Trade
- No immigration from; deport all citizens of such country
- No travel privileges in the U.S. for their citizens.
- Our allies will need to understand that we can, and will, disagree on certain issues; we will respect their sovereignty, and they will need to respect ours.
- We must work with the Islamic Community. As to terrorism related to the religion of Islam we must first define what I will term mainstream Islam and fundamentalist Islam. We must work with "Mainstream Islam" to make sure that their religion is protected and not lost in the madness of terrorism. We reject religious dictatorships and countries which seek to impose their religion on their citizens or any global or regional objectives of religious control. We will coordinate an effort in order to get more involvement and accountability of mainstream Islamic leaders to address the extremist/terrorist factions of their religion. If they are unwilling to develop a plan with tangible elements (other than mere condemnation of certain horrific events), then we can no longer support those elements of the religion. Mainstream factions can no longer straddle the fence - either they are willing to work with us to fight terrorism or they are providing tacit support for terrorism. We need to coordinate a plan of cooperation with such factions - first seeking their input, thengiving our input and together devising an effective plan. If Islam wants to be a "religion of peace," then mainstream Islam will have the opportunity to take definitive actions and work with us.
- This is not a war with Islam; however, even if 1% of all people of Islamic faith are "radical" or "Fundamentalist" that still means a lot of people (assuming over 1.1 billion Muslims). By radical or fundamentalist, I mean that they have no interest in co-existing with the United States or Israel. They are those who want a one-world Islamic state. If 1% are "Radical" and another 30-40% are sympathetic to the terrorists, then that is a huge number. We have to define and refine the numbers and resources that we are talking about in order to properly figure out the response. The recent cartoon riots illustrate the numbers which can be easily manipulated into irrational behavior (yes killing over artistic impression is irrational).
- We have to improve our global dialogue. First, consider a summit in which we invite as many of the parties together as possible, including fundamentalist Muslims, Israel, China and Europe, to determine what it will take to stop the killing. We must, however, have the following premises: (i) violence must stop, (ii) Israel has a right to exist, (iii) a Palestinian state (and other Islamic states) has a right to exist, (iv) the United States has a right to exist, (v) use of nuclear and biological and chemical weapons must be eliminated and (vi) oil now (and alternative fuels later) must be made available to the world. Beyond those issues, discuss specifically what people want and why there is hatred. We need to know just what the different factions want and whether and how we can live together in peace. Develop and implement a second treaty, if possible. This is in addition to the anti-terrorism treaty described above.
- We must communicate our response. We should adopt a stated policy of response for Americans killed by terrorists (as soon as credible evidence exists as to those responsible). Terrorists (i.e., Muslim Extremists) have stated they want to kill 4 million Americans. The cold war policy of defined response worked. We must identify and publicize our self-defensive position. The official report from the 9/11 Commission stated: "Claiming that America had declared war against God and his messenger, [the terrorists] called for the murder of any American, anywhere on earth, as the 'individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it.'" The terrorists have not struck China, which is even more ideologically opposed to Islam than the West, or India, presumably because of the uncertain responses. The response may include military, economic or the provision of additional aid to our allies, but it must be publicly stated in advance of any further attacks.
- We have to take specific Security Measures.
- A. Increase border protection to reduce threats
- B. Patriot Act Type restrictions - we must protect law abiding citizens. Reasoned limitations make sense. Extreme examples of potential misapplication or abuse of the laws cannot be used to override common-sense policies Left wing/right wing paranoia must end. "After each war there is a little less democracy to save." -Brooks Atkinson
- C. Secure water, food, energy, finance and transportation systems. Secure schools, hospitals, churches and commercial institutions. We need a process for inspecting building construction sites to make sure buildings are not "rigged" for future terrorist actions. We have to use technology to protect ourselves. We must be diligent in planning ahead to prevent an attack. We must develop and use technology and intelligence. We also must develop better air-to-ground and other "in air" communication. We must review and re-define our list of controlled chemicals; we must track more chemicals/materials which could be used to make weapons of terror. As a society we must be patient; we can maintain our freedoms if we are willing to slow down and plan our events.
- The Terrorists are patient; I fear that they can simply wait until Americans: (i) politicize all aspects of the war on terror, (ii) disagree on measures needed for the emergency, and (iii) relax security standards because we are inconvenienced. We must remain diligent in our security efforts.
- Organizations like the United Nations, Amnesty International and news outlets do not control our military policy as they are not responsible for, and do not care about, our security.
- While we treat our enemy captives with a certain level of dignity, it is important to remember that they are enemy prisoners; they want to attack and kill us. While we give them a certain level of humanity, they are not entitled to comforts that many of us do not have. It is also important to remember that there are relatively few captives in our control.
- We have seen radical Muslims respond to movies, books, articles and cartoons with riots, murder and violence. We must protect the freedom of speech of the few whether or not we agree with the content.
- We have also seen members of other religions persecuted and killed. We must preserve freedom of religion.
- We must prepare for crisis response. We must implement response procedures in case we fail to prevent an attack: (i) minimize death, injury and damage, (ii) avoid chaos and (iii) stabilize the economy. Plans must include movement of people to secure areas, response by health care professionals and security measures. Review emergency broadcast systems in light of new technology (e.g., cell phone alert system).
- We must understand the objectives of fundamentalist Islam. We also must publicize the facts about what radical Islam means to society in terms of women's rights, freedom of religion, personal freedoms such as homosexuality, abortion, cohabitation), freedom of speech.
Goal: Protect innocent American lives and other lives
Reasons: We are facing a very determined enemy who has stated a hatred of Americans and the American way of life. Traditional solutions will not work. We cannot solve the problem alone. Most people have lost touch with the purposes of the United Nations and why we are a member. The United Nations' current reach goes far beyond its original purposes. This does not mean that we abandon the world and simply retreat to within our borders. Rather, we intend to isolate "non-treaty" countries. They are too dangerous. In time, they will presumably need us, and we can work to bring them into the world of civility (i.e., a world in which they work to defeat terrorism). We will use our available resources to protect ourselves and our property. We must clearly state our position to our allies, understanding that they are entitled to disagree. However, we are a sovereign nation and will make foreign policy decision that protect our self-interests first and we assume our allies will conduct their affairs in a similar fashion.
"We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it." -Dwight D. Eisenhhower
"The mere absence of war is not peace." -John F. Kennedy
"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Perhaps my dynamite plants will put an end to war sooner than your [pacifist] congresses. On the day two army corps can annihilate each other in one second, all civilized nations will recoil from war in horror." -Alfred Nobel