Posted by NEWS on 27/10/2004, 20:27:15 It is an irresistible urge in years divisible by four, particularly for columnists and denizens of the nation's editorial pages, to offer advice to the next president. So Mr. President, whether you are George Bush or John Kerry, in succumbing to this urge, here are some provocative ideas that might be considered after November 2.
Advice for the next President
By Harlan Ullman
Washington Times
First, while you and your opponent agreed that the greatest potential danger facing the United States was terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction, suppose the real threat is much broader, extending well beyond the global war on terror. Suppose the danger and reality combine messianic political ambitions for power that rely on terror as a tool and a perverted vision of God as a siren's call to recruit forces.
Imagine sometime in the future, a regime as bad as or worse than the Taliban seizes power somewhere in the Greater Middle East. Further, imagine that this regime controls Saudi (and possibly Iraqi) oil and Pakistani nuclear weapons. And further imagine that it could choose either to isolate itself from the world possibly turning off the oil spigot or embark on a crusade to expand its radicalism, recreating a Caliphate of old.
For those who dismiss this possibility, the same disbelief applied a hundred years ago toward Lenin and the Bolsheviks and 80 years ago with Hitler and the Nazis. Yet, Russia became the Soviet Union and Germany the Third Reich. The lesson is that it is simplistic and narrow- minded to assume that terrorists operate only on the grounds of hating America and infidels and that there is no grand political ambition empowered by radical Islam as Lenin and Hitler used theology to steal power. If that is accurate, then to defeat "terror," the United States must attack the causes and not just the symptoms (that is the terrorists) of this radicalism.
Second, despite great effort and sound bites to the contrary, America's national security structure is still, to use the description of the 2001 Hart-Rudman Commission, "dysfunctional." The executive branch needs far more "transformation" to cope with these dangers beyond the new Homeland Security Department or a national intelligence director. And unless Congress reforms itself for the 21st century, by reducing and streamlining a bloated committee structure and legislating process, and takes steps to contain partisanship and enhance effective partnership with the executive, bringing peace to Iraq or defeating terror will remain unfulfilled slogans in search of unachievable aims.
Third, the United States can only "win," that is to make itself safer and more secure, by fully engaging friends and allies globally. Hence, old alliances such as NATO must be reinvigorated and new ones created. In the case of NATO, its cutting edge is the NATO Response Force (NRF), a rapidly, and highly deployable expeditionary and fighting force of about 20,000 that could be sent to hot spots and crises before they spin out of control. U.S. policy insisted that European NATO members man this force first as a way of "transforming" their capability. But the time has come for strong U.S. leadership and commitment of our forces to make the NRF work.
Similarly, the Six Power talks on eliminating nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula should be expanded to include all nuclear states (Britain, France, India, Pakistan and even Israel) and the agenda broadened to prevent the spread and use of these truly massive destructive weapons. And new security arrangements in Africa and Latin America must be developed, perhaps with existing organizations, to make states safer and more secure.
Finally, almost certainly you will appoint a Supreme Court justice, possibly the chief. Given the pernicious political partisanship and the animosity over such explosive issues as same-sex marriages and Roe v. Wade in which civil discourse is nearly impossible, the court will need an individual of unique ability and character, or complete non-descriptness, to be confirmed. Since there is no requirement for a justice to be either a lawyer or a judge and some of our best were neither the search should be as wide as possible. One American would be almost universally acclaimed: Colin Powell. And such an appointment would have the potential for positive impact well beyond whatever cases the Supreme Court decides.
Many Americans are rightly worried about the future, perhaps more so than during the Cold War. What is needed are courage, boldness and intellect in looking beyond the narrow boundaries of political correctness and sterile perceptions of what can and cannot be achieved.Your greatest challenge and opportunity will be testing and pushing those boundaries to new limits. And, Dear Mr. President, the future safety of the nation and our friends will rest both in how and how well that is done.
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