World Affairs: June 2003 Archives

Nearly two years after 9/11, the United States is drastically underfunding local emergency responders and remains dangerously unprepared to handle a catastrophic attack on American soil, particularly one involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-impact conventional weapons. If the nation does not take immediate steps to better identify and address the urgent needs of emergency responders, the next terrorist incident could be even more devastating than 9/11.

This CFR warning is becoming a yearly event. The Administration and their supporters have buried their collective head in the sands of Iraq. Will it take another 9/11 to get some money for the front-liners in the real War on Terror?

"The key point is not just whether people hate us," says Robert Wright, the author of "Nonzero," a highly original book on the integrated world. "The key point is that it matters more now whether people hate us, and will keep mattering more, for technological reasons. I don't mean just homemade W.M.D.'s. I am talking about the way information technology — everyone using e-mail, Wi-Fi and Google — will make it much easier for small groups to rally like-minded people, crystallize diffuse hatreds and mobilize lethal force. And wait until the whole world goes broadband. Broadband — a much richer Internet service that brings video on demand to your PC — will revolutionize recruiting, because video is such an emotionally powerful medium. Ever seen one of Osama bin Laden's recruiting videos? They're very effective, and they'll reach their targeted audience much more efficiently via broadband."

None of this means we, America, just have to do what the world wants, but we do have to take it seriously, and we do have to be good listeners. We, America, "have to work even harder to build bridges," argues Mr. Wright, because info-tech, left to its own devices, will make it so much easier for small groups to build their own little island kingdoms. And their island kingdoms, which may not seem important or potent now, will be able to touch us more, not less.

Friedman once again grasps what most don't. The "super empowered angry men" gathers more followers each day, and they all have different ideas about what is right and wrong.

Did the president lie? Was the war unjustified? These two questions are both in play right now, but many conservatives are ignoring the first question and many liberals are ignoring the second, leaving the public with a confusing set of mismatched arguments to decipher.

The always excellent Spinsanity with a sensible breakdown of the logic and reason problems on both sides of the WMD debate.

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]

Everyone wants taxes to be cut, but no one wants services to be cut, which is why Democrats have to reframe the debate — and show President Bush for what he really is: a man who is not putting money into your pocket, but who is removing government services and safety nets from your life.

Ditto on foreign policy. As we and our government continue to spend and invest more than we save, we will become even more dependent on the outside world to finance the gap. Foreigners will have to buy even more of our T-bills and other assets. And do you know on whom we'll be most dependent for that? China and Japan. Yes, that China — the one the Bush team says is our biggest geopolitical rival.

"In the 1990's, Japan's and China's excess savings were financing our private sector investment, because the government was in surplus," says Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International. "Now, with these looming deficits, China and Japan are being asked to finance our government's actual operations." That makes us very dependent on their willingness to continue sending us hundreds of billions of dollars of their savings. Should China and Japan not want to play along, your services will very likely be cut even sooner (unless you believe in "voodoo economics"). Which is why Democrats should rename this tax bill the China-Japan Economic Dependency Act.

An interesting (Krugmanesque in The Note's assessment) point of view from Tom. Considering our dependence on foreign investment, we might want to consider playing nicer with others.

[via The Note]

Rep. Ike Skelton, "an influential Democrat on military matters, warned Monday that American policy makers may be forgetting history's lessons as clashes escalate between Iraqis and American troops," the Kansas City Star reports. "As a remedy for that ignorance, the 14-term Missouri congressman is recommending a reading list of 50 books to U.S. military officers, members of Congress and anyone else who cares about national security."

1. U.S. Constitution.
2. "Sun Tzu: The Art of War." Samuel B. Griffith, translator.
3. "On War." Carl von Clausewitz. Peter Paret and Michael Howard.
4. "Masters of War: Classical Strategic Thought." Michael I. Handel.
5. "The Book of War." John Keegan, editor.
6. "Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo." Edward Sheperd Creasy.
7. "Alexander the Great." Peter Bamm.
8. "Hannibal." Sir Gavin De Beer.
9. "The Face of Battle." John Keegan.
10. "Crucible of War: The Seven Years War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754 - 1766." Fred Anderson.
11. "Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer." John Mack Faragher.
12. "Washington." Richard Barksdale Harwell and Douglas Southall Freeman.
13. "Tecumseh: A Life." John Sugden.
14. "Undaunted Courage." Stephen Ambrose.
15. "Napoleon Bonaparte: An Intimate Biography." Vincent Cronin.
16. "The Military Maxims of Napoleon: The Principles of Warfare by Napoleon." Napoleon Bonaparte, translation by George C. D'Aguilar.
17. "Nelson: A Personal History." Christopher Hibbert.
18. "The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare." John Keegan.
19. "The Washing of the Spears: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation Under Shaka and Its Fall in the Zulu War of 1879." Donald R. Morris.
20. "Lee." Douglas Southall Freeman.
21. "Personal Memoirs: Ulysses S. Grant." Ulysses S. Grant.
22. "Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy: Guerrilla Warfare in the West, 1861-1865." Richard S. Brownlee.
23. "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era." James M. McPherson.
24. "Son of the Morning Star." Evan S. Connell.
25. "A Message to Garcia." Elbert Hubbard.
26. "Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I." John Eisenhower, 2002.
27. "Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing." Frank Everson Vandiver, Two Volumes.
28. "Churchill: A Biography." Roy Jenkins.
29. "A War to be Won." Allan R. Miller and Williamson Murray.
30. "Reminiscences." Douglas MacArthur.
31. "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." William L. Shirer.
32. "Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II." John Prados.
33. "Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission." Hampton Sides.
34. "Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle." Richard Frank.
35. "The Victors: Eisenhower and his boys and men of World War II." Stephen Ambrose.
36. "Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen." Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly.
37. "Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny." Frank Freidel.
38. "Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution." Maj. Gen. Jeanne Hold, USAF, Retired.
39. "Defeat Into Victory." William Slim.
40. "Truman." David McCullough.
41. "This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History." T.R. Fehrenbach.
42. "Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War." Robert Coram.
43. "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young." Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway.
44. "Gulf War: The Complete History." Thomas G. Houlahan
45. "Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Requires a Pagan Ethos." Robert D. Kaplan.
46. "Yellow Smoke: The Future of Land Warfare for America's Military (Role of American Military Power)." MG Robert H. Scales Jr.
47. "Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen and Leadership in Wartime." Eliot Cohen.
48. "From Vietnam to 9/11: On the Front Lines of National Security." John P. Murtha with John Plashal.
49. "Making the Corps." Thomas E. Ricks.
50. "The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy." Russel Frank Weigley.

[via Political Wire]