Gorilla's Blog

President Obama’s speech on terror was welcome, but many more things need to be said and done:

1) A recognition that the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and occasionally Pakistan have been pointless. Terrorism is best handled as a law enforcement/intelligence issue.

2) The drones we use are an admission that our military is not equipped to wage prolonged wars with insufficient troops. Global terrorism involves perhaps 10-20,000 active fighters, and we cannot defeat them when our resources are devoted to being an occupying force in failed states.

3) Guantanamo should be closed, its inmates released and/or tried in US civilian courts. The cowardice of the Know Nothing Party on this issue defines their equally stupid and fatal attraction to fighting endless wars that contribute nothing to national security.

4) The Patriot Act should be repealed. That the Justice Department feels it can spy on the press in a vain effort to punish whisteblowers says our country has lost freedom during the 12 years we’ve lost our mind about terrorism.

5) We need a complete revamp of national security and defense policy. The focus must be on vital national security interests, not chasing down fifth-rate criminals and fretting over the likes of North Korea and Iran. We need to worry a lot more about cyber attacks and more sophisticated forms of espionage currently being undertaken by the Chinese. We need to reduce defense spending on programs that refight World War II (do we really need an Air Force or a Navy to meet today’s national security challenges? must we spend 10 times what the rest of the world spends to be secure? etc.).

The President’s made a good start on these issues, but we also need to stop seeing the Pentagon as a middle class jobs program and national security as a theatrical exercise in restraining our own human rights.

Gorilla says: “Let’s be secure, but let’s also be wary about those in our country who would restrict our freedom!”

And the President adds another terrorist sympathizer to his belt, the contrast with his predecessor remains quite stark…

But the terrorism sermons will go on, and we need to recognize that they are not an existential threat to the US.

Deploy appropriate resources of law enforcement at home, occasional drone strikes and intelligence gathering abroad, and above all a commitment to helping failed states like Yemen and Pakistan achieve something other than chaos and violence.

Gorilla says: “Appropriate doesn’t mean $750 billion/year in defense spending to fight fifth-rate preaching clowns!”

In the wake of bin Laden’s death:

1) Pakistan cannot be trusted. That bin Laden was found 35 miles from Islamabad and 800 yards up the road from a military academy says it all. Pakistan has been playing both sides against the middle for over a decade. We haven’t used our leverage over Pakistan for the same reason we haven’t used our leverage over Israel: we’d rather have reliable crazies running these countries than do anything at all to make these countries better.

2) Islamic terrorism is not a very serious national security threat to anyone other than autocratic rulers in the Middle East. We need to be saying clearly that we are on the side of everyone fighting for freedom in the Middle East, from Saudi Arabia to Syria, from Palestine to Bahrain, from Egypt to Iran. Double standards do not provide security (see Pakistan).

3) Pointless wars and vast Pentagon spending increases have not made the world any safer.

Gorilla says: “Make up your own list, but never forget Santayana!”