(Later Post: Shortly after I made the entry below about Bill Richardson's counter-terrorism plans and how it should spark a necessary debate, the Barack Obama campaign announced that Sen. Obama would make a speech, “The War We Need to Win,” laying out his comprehensive strategy to fight terrorism worldwide in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. "He will discuss how the war in Iraq and our failed leadership in Washington have made us less safe than we were before 9/11 and outline his plan to start fighting the right war on the right battlefield," the campaign said.)
It really was a shame that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s plan to deal with and defeat Al Qaeda -- which he delivered in the form of a major policy address in Manchester Friday -- was mostly lost in the Clinton-Obama Kabuki theatre duel over who has bigger foreign policy muscle.
Now one can debate whether, as the Richardson campaign trumpeted in its press release, this is a “grand strategy” or not, but it’s worth noting that the former UN Ambassador is first Democrat (and really first serious candidate of either party) to offer a proposal to deal with the American split personality about the Iraq war and the conflict against the real long-term threat: the terrorists who have survived Bush’s war on something called terrorism and have regrouped and become potentially more dangerous.
“Mr. Bush did not have a plan. But Al Qaeda did,” Richardson said in reference to the President’s Iraq war of choice.
It will be interesting to see when this will ignite a debate that candidates of both parties need to have. It cheap rhetoric to say we need “to stay on the offensive” as some mindlessly say (especially if they believe that Bush has actually demonstrated overall success) but it’s quite another to deal with the sober reality of what we face.
How sober is it? I suggest reading Samantha Powers review in yesterday’s NY Times Book Review on “Our War on Terror” (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/books/review/Power-t.html?ref=review). It’s an evocative take on a complex subject that needs to be confronted. As Power rightly points out: just because the Bush gang blew it and blew it badly and created more terrorist foes in the process, it doen’t mean we don’t have some serious steps to take and to succeed we need a bipartisan and informed public political consensus not unlike what we had during the Cold War.
To his credit, Richardson has launched the debate.
Below I’ve included the lengthy Richardson campaign press release and Associated Press reporter Holly Ramer’s story about Richardson’s announcement.
AP STORY
By HOLLY RAMER
Associated Press Writer
MANCHESTER— Seeking to shift focus from Iraq to Afghanistan, Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson on Friday said America’s allies will hold back unless defeating al-Qaida becomes the nation’s top priority in the war on terrorism.
“We urgently must redirect our military effort away from Iraq — where al-Qaida’s leadership is not located — and toward the Afghanistan-Pakistan border — where they are located,” Richardson told members of the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire.
“When our allies see that we finally have gotten our priorities straight and that we’ve revived our commitment to going after the al-Qaida leadership ... only then will they provide enough troops to overwhelm the enemy.”
The New Mexico governor outlined what he called a “grand strategy” for defeating al-Qaida, mixing baseball and boxing metaphors in criticizing President Bush’s approach.
“If only the president had kept his eye on the ball and finished the job when he had the chance,” he said. “Al-Qaida was on the ropes in 2002, cornered in the badlands between Afghanistan and Pakistan. If our troops had been given the resources they needed, we could have finished them off.”
Instead, he said, Bush diverted resources from ’that necessary war to a war of choice” and became too “lost in his delusions of an easy peace” to realize that al-Qaida was sending fighters to Iraq to provoke a civil war.
“We need to address this threat with the focus it deserves,” Richardson said. “Al-Qaida benefits from our being trapped in Iraq and wants us to stay there. They know that if we were not stuck in Iraq, we could go after them where they are.”
In addition to a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and redirecting them to Afghanistan, Richardson calls for encouraging nations such as Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia to send troops to stabilize the country. The United States also must rebuild its alliances with other nations, said Richardson, who served as UN ambassador during the Clinton administration.
“This administration has driven away our allies with swagger and saber rattling,” he said. “I will rebuild our alliances by making common cause with partners who share our values and interests.”
Efforts to bolster Afghanistan’s economy should be expanded, on the scale of the rebuilding of Europe after World War II, he said. Those efforts should include providing all Afghan children with education and free lunches, he said.
“The long-term defeat of al-Qaida depends on teaching hope, rather than hate, to the next generation,” he said.
At home, Richardson said his strategy would include beefing up civil defense by improving the capacity of the public health system to respond to a nuclear or biological attack. He proposed a medical GI bill that would provide full scholarships for nurses and other medical providers who agree to serve in poor and rural areas and to participate in national disaster response.
“We also need risk-based funding for homeland security,” he said. “It is unpatriotic for legislators to turn homeland security dollars into pork. We need to spend homeland security funds where they are needed — in high-risk urban areas like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.”
RICHARDSON CAMPAIGN PRESS RELEASE
From July 27
Governor Bill Richardson today outlined a bold, comprehensive strategy to defeat Al Qaeda and blasted the incompetence of the Bush Administration in a major foreign policy address to the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire .
“Al Qaeda was on the ropes in 2002, cornered in the badlands between Afghanistan and Pakistan. If our troops had been given the resources they needed, we could have finished them off,” said Governor Richardson.
“But the President chose instead to divert our resources from that necessary war to a war of choice.
Governor Richardson laid out an ambitious vision for smashing Al Qaeda and restoring America’s place in the world. A strategy that devotes our military, intelligence, diplomatic, humanitarian and political resources to the task.
Governor Richardson again demonstrated that he is the only candidate for President with a wide range of diplomatic experiences, and a record of accomplishment to guide America through the foreign policy challenges that lie ahead.
“A new grand strategy against the al Qaeda movement must repair this damage that the Bush policies have done to our international reputation. In particular, we need to reach out to Muslims, and demonstrate -- by our actions as well as our words -- that we respect Muslim culture and value Muslim life,” said Governor Richardson.
“The target of our military strategy needs to be the al Qaeda leadership. As long as these men are active, they symbolize the success of resistance to America, and attract new recruits. It is not good enough to have them ‘hiding in caves.’ The death or capture of Osama bin Ladin and his associates in Pakistan and Afghanistan will not end the Al Qaeda movement, but it will deal it a serious setback.”
Governor Richardson emphasized the strategic importance of Afghanistan, and pointed the way toward our ultimate success there.
“A critical first step is to enhance our commitment -- military, political and economic -- to Afghanistan. Saving Afghanistan will require a multilateral Marshall Plan -- an effort on the scale of what rebuilt Europe after the Second World War,” said Governor Richardson.
“These efforts also must extend into Pakistan. The border regions are poverty-stricken breeding grounds for Jihadism. We need to read the riot act to Dick Cheney’s pal, President Musharraf. We have provided him with $10 billion, in mostly military aid. Future aid must be linked to a real crackdown on terrorists -- including Arabs, Afghans and Kashmiris.”
Governor Richardson also warned of the extraordinary strategic mistake of leaving US forces in Iraq indefinitely. He reiterated his decisive plan to get all of our troops out of Iraq leaving no residual forces.
“Iraq is also a critical battlefield in the fight against Jihadism -- because it prevents us from fully engaging the core Al Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our enemies want us to remain bogged down in Iraq,” said Governor Richardson.
“Let me say that again -- Al Qaeda benefits from our being trapped in Iraq, and wants us to stay there. They know that if we were not stuck in Iraq, we could go after them where they are. They know that the Shia and the Kurds in Iraq don’t want them there, and that many Sunni Iraqis tolerate them only because they are allies against us. When we leave, they know the Iraqis will drive them out of Iraq.
“We cannot defeat Al Qaeda until we get out of Iraq. An orderly, phased and complete troop withdrawal could be completed rapidly -- and it is imperative that it be complete.”
Finally, Governor Richardson forcefully underscored the need for improved homeland security.
“We also must address homeland security much more strategically than we have. A biological or nuclear attack could be as horrific as Hiroshima -- and terrorism experts agree that sooner or later such an attack is likely. We must do everything we can to prevent this -- and we must improve our ability to respond quickly if an attack occurs, to assist the victims, and to recover,” said Governor Richardson.
Governor Richardson recognizes the challenges put to us by Jihadism and international terrorism. He knows that we will win the war against the terrorists because, for our nation and for the world, we must.
“With the right American leadership, the world will follow us as we put these people out of business. We need leadership that understands the nature of the enemy, and focuses on the real terrorists who attacked us on 9-11. Leadership that recognizes that we must lead by example, that our deeds must match our words, and that we are strongest -- and safest -- when we use all of our resources -- military, economic, diplomatic, humanitarian and political.”
See more at http://www.richardsonforpresident.com.
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