Winning the War on Terorrism

There are many plans to win the war on terorrism. Some are completely insane, others are pretty decent. Now some non-bloggers, and people with actual influence and power are proposing plans to invade the rest of the world sometime in the second Bush term (there is a good reason why I am working to beat that SOB) But none of these strategies are victory strategies in the war on terrorism. Some are victory or at least non-loss strategies for Iraq, and I refer to Tactitus’ plans, others are completely insane in general but they are not comprehensive in nature.

I can not offer a comprehensive plan, however Juan Cole has a great short list of objectives that we need to seek in order to leave 2004 more secure than 2003. I hope that I do justice to his thoughts as I condense them.

5) Stabilize Pakistan because they have nukes and a strong militant population and political base. Additionally a stable Pakistan can be leverage in the creation of a continental market which should improve living standards for most people and reduce the frustration experienced.

I would think that one policy that the US can immediately take to improve Pakistan’s stability is to remove the import tariffs

4) Stabilize Afganistan — ’nuff said, be willing to spend the money, political capital and the troops needed to create a reasonably strong and unified central government. Remove power from the clans and tribal warlords

Now here is the problem with the opportunity cost of Iraq, where can the US get the manpower and cultural expertise since it is all deployed to Iraq right now

3) Stabilize a united Iraq so that there is not a three way civil war if there is a loss federal structure of government. The Sunni Arabs have few oil resources but plenty of military experience. They can cause trouble if they are cut off from the one present source of Iraq wealth.

Now where do we get the troops and the political will to stabilize the situation versus helping the Bush re-election campaign.

2. The US must capture Osama Bin Laden, Saad Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Saif al-Adil, and other top al-Qaeda leaders, of both the older and the younger generations. This task was far more important for the immediate security of those of us who live in the US than conquering Iraq, and it was highly irresponsible to undertake the latter before accomplishing the former.

1) Lean heavily on Isreal to prevent the Bantustanation of the Palestinian people. The US is not seen as a fair broker in the Middle East and this is one of the prime grievances of the entire Arab world. No PR campaign will work unless there are a series of concrete and politically painful actions on the part of the US political establishment to signal that the US will become a fair broker instead of an Isreali lackey.

I agree with Juan’s plans and objectives, however I have a problem of implementation. These plans sound competent, well-thought and plausible. The Bush Administration will not go for that.

Crossposted at Fester’s Place