| Introductory Comments
The phrase "War on Terror" has become a political catch-phrase and is in danger of losing the real meaning of what going on in the world today. This is a real war, a clash of dramatically opposing ideologies, a dangerous crossroads. The outcome of this conflict will determine the kind of world our children, grandchildren, and future generations live in. Personal freedoms are at stake. The menace is real, and is too serious to be treated as a political gambit.
National Security
The Constitution specifies that one of its important purposes is to "provide for the common defense." Today, we call that "National Security". Our common defense and National Security are vitally important, because enemies are out to undermine the foundation and security of our nation. Ronald Reagan's views and policies on a strong national defense proved that it is the best deterrent to aggression by those who would destroy us and our way of life. The military is the embodiment of our defense. The Strategic Defense Initiative is an important way of providing for the common defense and keeping our troops out of harm's way. Funding for the military in general and the Strategic Defensive Initiative in particular is vital to our national interests and must be preserved, even expanded. We need maintain a military standing ready to defend our nation and its borders.
Terrorism as a conflict has produced different and difficult challenges. Initially we have tried to meet this test with conventional tactics. America must recognize that the threat is different and far more potent than any we have ever faced before. It is time, even past time, to take immediate, decisive, and forceful steps to protect our people and our national sovereignty.
It is time to get the job done.
Intelligence Issues
Intelligence gathering has long been recognized as an activity vital to making decisions that protect our People and our national interests. Data gathered is essential to understand threats and defend our People. The critical element is the proper, common sense interpretation of data. A wrong analysis will be costly in lives. The danger of unfettered intelligence is real or perceived encroachment of personal freedoms. Americans do not have to compromise personal freedoms to enjoy safety. Diligent leadership and ethical restraint on use of data can provide the protection required for our national and personal security.
It is not enough to trust leaders. They should be trustworthy. They must be trustworthy. They must also be accountable for their actions. We cannot afford for them not to act. Already we are recriminating leadership for their failure to detect the threat prior to 9-11. At the same time, politicos are positioning so they can decry use of prudent intelligence measures to prevent a terrorist attack from occurring again. This is an arena where politics must be discarded, and prudence must prevail. It takes leadership to accomplish this. We're not getting that now on this issue.
Domestic spying has been paraded through the media as if it were a threat to the American People. There are actually more serious threats to the personal freedoms the People enjoy coming from our judiciary than from domestic spying. Political opportunists are preying on fear, uncertainty, and doubt to cloud the real issue. The People have sufficient common sense to understand that law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from the interception of phone calls directed at numbers residing in captured terrorist data bases. Rather, nefarious individuals bent on destroying America should be kept under surveillance. This is a sensible way of uncovering threats to our nation. This is not a time or topic for politics or popularity. This is a wise precaution. Let's not pander to unfounded fears. Instead let's get on about the business of providing for the common defense.
It is time to get the job done.
Protecting the Borders
The current debate over illegal immigration is generating passionate rhetoric from both perspectives. Truly it is a complicated issue, one brought about by decades of inattention. The larger solution will not come overnight and it will not be satisfactory to all. However, the porous borders that have fostered the problem are something that can be, should be, must be fixed quickly. It is insane for us to be in a state of war and to provide easy access to any enemy seeking to harm the country. It is preposterous to think that enemies will not plot and plan to take advantage of this unconscionable lapse in judgment. It is outrageous that our leadership is not committing all available resources to enforce existing laws and bring this invasion to a screeching halt. Illegal entry, by definition, is illegal, unlawful, criminal, and illegitimate. The problem is already out of hand and overwhelming. Correcting this serious error must start now. It must be forceful, fair, and fast.
Dealing with the illegal immigration problem, while a high priority, is secondary to sealing and protecting the borders. We must correct the lax enforcement of past policies, and we can do so with compassion, equity, and dispatch. We need to revamp the INS to streamline the process. Our borders are our borders. The technology exists to serve the interests of the American People and the legitimate needs and concerns of those non-citizens who desire opportunity that America offers like no other nation in the world. It is a tribute to our way of life that the rest of the world wants to come here. This is our country. We are a nation of laws built on laws by law-abiding citizens. We make the rules for our nation just like every other nation on the planet. They have sovereignty over their territory, so we have sovereignty over ours. We can manage this. We need leadership with the will to enforce the law and to create ample opportunity for legitimate immigration.
It is time to get the job done.
How to Win the War
On September 11, 2001, the United States of America was attacked by an enemy vastly different from any we have faced before. No nation or national interest was allegedly behind the attack. This war is different because there are no defined nations, set boundaries, or standing militaries to engage. Terrorism refers to acts or threats of violence carried out for political motives by groups or individuals who are not considered part of a legitimate state. Terrorist acts are indiscriminate and too often target innocent civilians without regard for human life. Terrorists do not adhere to any rules of war or engagement. Their purpose is to disrupt and destroy legitimate government through violence, intimidation, fear, and coercion. They are bullies determined to have their own way at the expense of all others.
Some argue that their cause is just another term for "freedom fighters." However, the enemy we are facing today is not interested in freedom. They are advocating domination of the world, and imposition of their will on all others in the world. They are very dangerous, deranged, irrational people who are bent on destruction of the American way of life and freedom everywhere.
Since this is an unconventional conflict, exceptional tactics and policies must be employed to prevail. Intelligence must be utilized. Verified findings require action. We must be prepared to go anywhere, use any means, employ any measures to eliminate any threat to our People. We have technology available to us to track, uncover, identify, and deal with these malevolent threats to freedom. We must use intelligence intelligently; technology skillfully; might justly; and do all swiftly. We cannot underestimate the resolve of the enemy, though they are misguided. We must not doubt the rightness of our own cause or the evil of theirs.
We are now engaged in a great political debate testing whether this nation has the resolve to pursue a course toward victory. The American People will respond when a clear course is delineated. It is time to set politics aside on this issue, define a course, make a commitment, state our resolve, and end this threat. We must not needlessly prolong this struggle. We dare not delay eradicating this scourge. The world must be made a safe place for all.
It is time to get the job done
Iraq Issue
Much debate has been heard and still rages over the moral rightness of the Iraq War. Regardless of your feelings on the justification for the war, certain facts remain.
• We are there. The war occurred. Commitments have been made. The task must be completed or the sacrifices already made will have been in vain. We cannot undo what has already been done. We must take measures to prevent the need for such actions in the future.
• Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction. This fact is undeniable.
o They used chemical nerve gas weapons on their own citizens (the Kurds) in 1988.
o Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamal defected from Iraq in the Summer of 1995, providing accounts and locations of WMDs. Subsequently Baghdad surrendered large quantities of material to the UN. Kamal was lured back to Iraq and assassinated for his disclosure.
o There is credible testimony from eyewitnesses and participants, including Gen. Georges Sada, the former second-in-command of Saddam's Air Force, that WMDs were transported to Syria and Lebanon prior to the Iraq War. (1)
• Middle East Democracy is a powerful statement to the world. The general media has largely ignored the phenomenal success of the Iraqi elections, preferring to focus on problems, both real and imagined. The voter turnout for the Iraqi elections has shamed every existing democracy in the free world. If Americans turned out in the same percentages as Iraqis did, there would be different leadership in our country and far better results.
• Critics appeal to fears that we will be in Iraq for decades to come. This is possible, but not certain. These same critics overlook the fact that we still have a presence in Germany and Japan six decades after the conclusion of hostilities in World War II, and our presence is welcomed there. Future leadership, both American and Iraqi will make decisions on how long we will be there.
It is time to quit wringing our hands on how we got there and focus on what we need to do to stabilize Iraq and the entire Middle East. There are far larger problems to be faced there.
It is time to get the job done.
Iran Problem
Iran will prove to be a far greater problem than Iraq, and it is complicated by the debate over our involvement in Iraq. This is unfortunate, because the threat from Iran is infinitely more deadly. The current leader of Iran is unhinged and irrational. He is a danger to his people, indeed to the entire world.
Iran will not wait for the next election. Courageous leaders must take action now to protect the world from this maniac.
It is time to get the job done.
Terrorism Doctrine (AKA Bush Doctrine)
Following 9-11, in a series of statements, President Bush redefined our nation's policy regarding threats to our nation. The most profound foreign policy change since the Monroe Doctrine (of 1823) makes powerful and sweeping statements. Initially spoken to Congress in an address soon after the attacks, the President declared that there is "no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them." On September 20, 2001, in a televised address to a joint session of Congress, Bush summed up the policy, "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
He elaborated on this initial statement the following June during a speech to the graduating class of West Point. The policy was expanded to include several concepts:
• Preemption - A policy of preventive war, should the US or its allies be threatened by terrorists or by rogue states that are engaged in the production of weapons of mass destruction. The nation must be protected from potential aggressors. To do that we may launch pre-emptive attacks against potential aggressors to cut them off before they can strike the U.S.
• Unilateralism - The U.S. has a duty to pursue unilateral military action when acceptable multilateral solutions are unavailable or cannot be found.
• Strength Beyond Challenge - The "United States has, and intends to keep, military strengths beyond challenge".
• Extending Democracy, Liberty, and Security to All Regions - This is a policy of actively promoting democracy and freedom in all regions of the world. Bush declared at West Point, "America has no empire to extend or utopia to establish. We wish for others only what we wish for ourselves -- safety from violence, the rewards of liberty, and the hope for a better life."
These are fine words, noble ideas, and lofty objectives. They have been stalled by politics, mired in debate, and hindered by indecision. There is a serious danger that enemies will be heartened by what they perceive to be a lack of resolve on the part of the American People. Real leadership must be exerted to be sure we are right, then go ahead, swiftly, decisively. There can be no safe place on the planet for these enemies of humanity.
It is time to get the job done.
Concluding remarks
The war on terror is a major concern facing the American People. There can be no confusion or doubt over our commitment to preserve our freedom and help others achieve theirs. The war and activities that we pursue in support of that effort cannot infringe on basic freedoms guaranteed to all Americans. This is a delicate balance, requiring communication and wisdom to attain.
Rest assured, we will achieve this balance and prevail in this conflict because the alternative is unacceptable … for the American People and for the world.
NOW is the time to get the job done. I will do the job.
-- Richard Michael Smith
May, 2006
(1) TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM & UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE, report to U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515, "THE IRAQI WMD CHALLENGE -- Myths and Reality", February 10, 1998 http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/congress/house1.htm
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