Terrorism

Today the New America Foundation is honored to be hosting former Egyptian First Lady, Jehan Sadat. Dr. Sadat, who spends half her year as a scholar in residence at the University of Maryland, will be discussing the ideas she outlines in her latest book, My Hope for Peace.

This post was authored by Timothy Little, a Research Intern for The American Strategy Program

A couple months ago I commented on a new attempt by Senator Bond (R-MO) to create a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Intelligence. With the election and the financial crisis dominating much of the conversations in Congress, there has been little movement on this issue. However, recent changes in Senate chairmanships and the new WMD report released could revive this issue.

A commission chaired by Bob Graham and Jim Talent released its report on the prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism. They concluded what many policy analysts have been saying for some time: "a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013." The year is open to debate, but it will likely be within the next decade.

However, the same report called upon Congressional leadership to "establish an Intelligence Subcommittee on the Appropriations Committees in both chambers of Congress with jurisdiction over the National Intelligence Program and Military Intelligence Program budgets."

The new Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) said in 2004 when he was Ranking Member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee:

Chicago Tribune (08/13) quotes Steve Clemons on liberal opposition to a Bayh VP slot.
Pravda (08/13) quotes Flynt Leverett on Georgia's strategic mistake in provoking Russian aggression.
Israel E News (08/13) quotes Daniel Levy on Israel's shaky ceasefire with Hamas.
Washington Independent (08/13) quotes Peter Bergen on safe havens for Al Qaeda.
Financial Times (08/12) cites Steve Clemons on conservatives who support Obama.
Guardian (08/12) mentions Peter Bergen on American elites' evolving attitudes towards fighting terror.

Associated Press (08/06) cites William Hartung on potential cooperation with China on energy security.
Washington Post (08/06) quotes Flynt Leverett on Iran's continuing uranium enrichment.
National Interest (08/01) cites Peter Bergen on Washington's evolving strategy against terrorism.
Somerville Journal (08/01) quotes Daniel Levy's analysis on Israel negotiating through Turkey and Egypt.

The 2008 Copenhagen Consensus has just been released and its panel of top economists has declared the global fight against terrorism an unwise investment.

The post-9/11 world has increased counter-terrorism spending by $70billion annually, with the U.S contributing the lion's share to this cause. This has been accompanied by a significant reduction in the number of attacks, but casualties from said terrorist attacks have risen. The Wall Street Journal reports that a 34% drop in terrorist attacks has been accompanied with a rise in deaths, from 420 to 487 casualties annually.

What explains this inverse relationship? Terrorists have long been labeled "irrational," but they seem to have little trouble calculating costs and benefits. Rather than waste their time with minor attacks that may be thwarted by the heightened security, they save their money and time for big attacks; read more casualties.

The Council on Foreign Relations (07/24) cites Peter Bergen on a possible future defeat of Al Qaeda.
CBS News (07/23) interviews Daniel Levy on Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East.
UN Dispatch (07/23) includes Steve Clemons in a panel discussion on terrorism and the next president.
Kansas City Star (07/20) quotes Peter Bergen on the dangers posed by madrassa education.

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Primary Responsibilities

During Jane Mayer's event today at New America promoting her penetrating new book, The Dark Side, a topic came up during the Q & A that I'd like to expand on--the possibility of establishing a truth commission for the Bush administration's transgressions. The idea has been getting some play recently, both from Nick Kristof in the NYT and scattered across some lefty blogs (a funny parody here, another suggestion here). The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission is generally held up as the model for such bodies, which don't have formal judicial power but instead serve primarily as instruments for the discovery of past wrongdoings by governments.

Terrorism could be considered the most hateful act there is; purposefully injuring and killing innocent civilians to achieve a far-fetched political goal. The United States and most of the world have decisively taken a strong stance against terrorists without exception. Israel may be the most heavy-handed in doling out punishments; a deadly rampage by a Palestinian man in a bulldozer warranted plans to destroy the house he shared with twenty other people, in addition to the fact that he was killed on the spot.

Yet for all the quick punishments and no-nonsense retaliations there is little, if any, proof that extremism and terrorist acts world-wide have declined in recent years. Terrorism expert Peter Bergen argues that extremist attacks have risen. Maybe we should be looking for alternative, or complementary, approaches in tackling extremism. Saudi Arabia has a new and intriguing one that may be worth noting: rehabilitation.

CNN (5/16) cites Peter Bergen's expert opinion on Sen. McCain's terrorism policy.
Charlie Rose (5/15) conversed with Parag Khanna about the decline of US dominance over global affairs.