What Are the Real Security Issues'?

Friends Committee on National Legislation - Washington newsletter, October 2004

Many Friends and others are discouraged by the direction of the presidential campaign. The two main presidential candidates have spent the last two months attacking each other's military record from the Vietnam era. Yet, neither President Bush nor Sen. John Kerry has articulated his plan on how he would end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Security for the U.S. is portrayed as fighting an endless "war on terrorism." Yet, the ongoing violence in the Middle East, Iraq, and Afghanistan and the continuing threat of attacks here in the U.S. all point to failures in the current U.S. national security strategy. More lives will be lost and billions more dollars wasted unless there is a serious change in the U.S. approach-from war fighting to building national and global security through a policy that addresses the root causes of violent extremism.

From Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib to Afghanistan, the U.S. has undertaken mass detentions for intelligence gathering purposes, imprisoning people without charges and without allowing visitations by family or legal counsel. Such policies violate the Geneva Conventions and fundamental American values and fuel resentment against the U.S. throughout the Muslim world. But there is little discussion in the campaign about the status and treatment of detainees.

Friends and like-minded persons have an opportunity to inject real issues and real answers into the final weeks of the election campaign. The majority of the public says it is giving "quite a lot" of thought to the election and believes the election result "really matters." The public's interest in the presidential campaign is significantly higher than in the last two elections, according to the Pew Research Center.

We need to work together to help get the electorate and the candidates to focus on the real issues. People across the country are seeking an alternative to the unilateral, militaristic U.S. foreign policy of recent years.

An alternative policy offering real security would require ending the support of oppressive rulers in the Middle East and elsewhere, pursuing a more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, changing our oil-dependent energy policy, and replacing the drive for overwhelming global military dominance with policies for the peaceful prevention of atrocities and deadly conflict.

Real national security calls for U.S. policies based on strengthening international cooperation and the rule of law, promoting disarmament, addressing the root causes of extremist violence and other deadly conflict.

The "global war on terrorism" is a lost cause. You cannot shoot or bomb terrorism out of existence. Terrorism thrives on war; war fighting is its goal. The effective answer to terrorism is prevention, and prevention relies primarily on civil not military power. To prevent and reduce terrorism, the world must address the profound grievances that give rise to violent extremist groups.

The next president of the United States must offer leadership in addressing these issues if the people of the U.S. are to enjoy real security in the future. The next president must face up to the truth: War is not the answer.

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