The War on Terror - Views from the Inside

In a series of interviews, Beers, 60, critiqued Bush's war on terrorism. He is a man in transition, alternately reluctant about and empowered by his criticism of the government. After 35 years of issuing measured statements from inside intelligence circles, he speaks more like a public servant than a public figure. Much of what he knows is classified and cannot be discussed. Nevertheless, Beers will say that the administration is "underestimating the enemy." It has failed to address the root causes of terror, he said. "The difficult, long-term issues both at home and abroad have been avoided, neglected or shortchanged and generally underfunded."

The focus on Iraq has robbed domestic security of manpower, brainpower and money, he said. The Iraq war created fissures in the United States' counterterrorism alliances, he said, and could breed a new generation of al Qaeda recruits. Many of his government colleagues, he said, thought Iraq was an "ill-conceived and poorly executed strategy."

Rand Beers, National Security Council member for the last 4 Presidents and model bi-partisan team player has resigned and signed on to John Kerry's campaign staff as a national security advisor.

He had briefly considered a think tank or an academic job but realized that he "never felt so strongly about something in my life" than he did about changing current U.S. policies.

He has some eye-opening things to say (or not-so-eye-opening, since skeptics outside the White House intelligence apparatus were saying similar things) on the the REAL war on terror from his position as one of its primary combatants. Give it a read.

[via The Note]