National Security and Terrorism - The New Plan

President Bush offered up a new political speech to bolster the newest framing of the war on terror. And to no great surprise, the Demosprats provided a lot of noise and nothing more. If anything is the cause of further hazards to the citizens of the US it will be caused by the two party system.

A new counterterrorism strategy released yesterday by the White House describes al-Qaeda as a significantly degraded organization, but outlines potent threats from smaller networks and individuals motivated by al-Qaeda ideology, a lack of freedom and "twisted" propaganda about U.S. policy in the Middle East.

The National Strategy for Combating Terrorism reflects the intelligence community's latest analysis of the evolving nature of the threats from widely dispersed Islamic extremists who are often isolated and linked by little more than the Internet. It describes President Bush's "freedom agenda" of promoting democracy as the leading long-term weapon against them.

Attacking terrorist organizations, controlling weapons of mass destruction and protecting the homeland remain U.S. priorities, the document says. But the strategy places new emphasis on the need for training experts in languages and Islamic culture, for enhanced partnerships abroad and with the American Muslim community, and for better information-sharing among domestic counterterrorism agencies.

What today's extremists have in common, it says, is "that they exploit Islam and use terrorism for ideological ends." But "although al-Qaeda functions as the movement's vanguard . . . the movement is not controlled by any single individual, group or state."

And

In a Justice Department briefing, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said the changing nature of the enemy reflects victories against al-Qaeda and is "a sign of our success, not our failure."

Critics of administration policy said the new strategy is an admission that previous policies have failed. It "seems to adopt many of the critiques Democrats made of the old one," Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) said in a statement. "I hope today's change in rhetoric represents a real change in course."

So nice to see that the parties can work together for the common good. Hey, it's just our backsides on the line here. But the Politicos have no worries, they have somewhere safe to hide if something nasty comes down.

I've read parts of the National Strategy to Combat Terrorism, and they seem to have gotten many of the things that are worrisome to the front. Here are the primary working points.

In response to our efforts, the terrorists have adjusted, and so we must continue to refine our strategy to meet the evolving threat. Today, we face a global terrorist movement and must confront the radical ideology that justifies the use of violence against innocents in the name of religion. As laid out in this strategy, to win the War on Terror, we will:

• Advance effective democracies as the long-term antidote to the ideology of terrorism;
• Prevent attacks by terrorist networks;
• Deny weapons of mass destruction to rogue states and terrorist allies who seek to use them;
• Deny terrorists the support and sanctuary of rogue states;
• Deny terrorists control of any nation they would use as a base and launching pad for terror; and
• Lay the foundations and build the institutions and structures we need to carry the fight forward against terror and help ensure our ultimate success.

There are further details in the document on the hows. I understand that they aren't going to provide detailed information on how they will carry this all out, but I'm certain if there are any secret parts of it, the NYTimes will be telling the world about it.

Sadly, with the political season in full swing the prospects for the idiots in office actually doing something constructive is almost nonexistent. It should probably be a foregone conclusion that the GITMO trials and NSA eavesdropping legislation will be placed into a completely frozen state since the Repugs want to benefit from getting them done and the Dems want to benefit from having the legislation fail.

We're not quite doomed, but the politicians are working toward that goal.