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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (59039)	11/26/2002 11:34:36 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

Fairly powerful message, coming from Friedman as it is.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (59039)	11/27/2002 12:14:20 AM
From: paul_philp	Respond to of 281500

Thomas, don't hold back. You go bro. Keep on rockin in the freeworld. Paul

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (59039)	11/27/2002 5:36:00 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 281500

A good piece on the needed reorganization that did not happen under Homeland. James Bond, anyone? WT Bin Laden, Bond and Bush Harlan Ullman Published 11/27/2002 Regarding the war against terror, last week was action-packed. Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle publicly admonished the Bush administration for its handling of that war. Iraq was receiving too much attention, while Osama bin Laden was presumably still at large. A day later, U.S. intelligence authenticated an audiotape played on Qatar's ubiquitous and annoying al Jazeera network as indeed having been made by bin Laden, confirming he was alive. Republicans were furious with Mr. Daschle. The White House fiercely defended its record and progress in the war on terror. But the administration also warned the nation that bin Laden's al Qaeda was planning "spectacular" attacks. The national threat level was raised to condition "yellow." Meanwhile, U.N. weapons inspectors arrived in Baghdad, a tiny first step in possibly disarming Saddam Hussein short of war. As NATO was establishing a new rapid-reaction force partly to aid the war on terror, Congress finally approved the new Homeland Security Department. But it deferred from the legislation what many people believe is the central issue: reorganizing the federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies to meet the dangers. If life were a movie, consider this story line. Asked by America for help, the British prime minister, played by the toothiest actor Hollywood can find, summons the head of Britain's Secret Service. He tells her that bin Laden must be quickly brought to justice so the war against Iraq can start. No doubt James Bond would get the task. After two hours of cinegraphic spectacle, bin Laden would receive his due and Bond would land the heroine, in this movie America's national security adviser played by Halle Berry. Movies are not real life. And knowing how well or how badly the war on terrorism goes still is uncertain. But police chiefs across America have a powerful view. Ask any. They will say, as unanimously as Iraq re-elected Saddam president, that they are little better prepared to combat terror then they were on September 11. The reason is an absence of cooperation, coordination and information on the part of federal intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. So, what to do? When any administration or federal agency is under fire, denial is a usual reaction. They naturally see themselves as good people doing the best they can and plead that if something "ain't broke, why fix it?" That was how Ronald Reagan's Pentagon acted in the early 1980s. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Department of Defense was harshly chastised for alleged incompetence from "bungled" operations such as the failed Desert One raid in 1980 to rescue American hostages in Tehran to buying coffee pots at $10,000 a pop and $600 toilet seats. It was almost over then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger's dead body that Congress passed the Goldwater-Nichols defense reorganization act in 1986. Today, that act is generally regarded as having helped the Department of Defense, although, as with any controversial reforms, there are other views. If the United States is to win the fight against terror, two actions are vital. First, a penetrating and objective review must be conducted to determine how that war is going. This means understanding why and how September 11 happened. Second, based on those findings and recommendations, as Goldwater-Nichols did for defense, law-enforcement and intelligence capabilities must be revamped accordingly. That will require legislation. Here, Britain provides a useful model. Britain's MI6 conducts foreign intelligence, MI5 domestic intelligence and Scotland Yard counters crime. While the differences between our countries are vast ? a prime minister with a 200-seat majority in Parliament can be a virtual benign despot ? this general division of intelligence and law-enforcement labor fits. As argued in "Unfinished Business," the CIA and FBI should be reorganized around the three roles of domestic intelligence, foreign intelligence including covert operations and traditional law-enforcement functions. If a super-intelligence agency is not created, then these functions would be assigned among the principal Cabinet offices with the CIA retaining principal responsibility for covert operations. Congress would also be wise to adjust its committee structure accordingly, something also missing from the debate over homeland security. And there must be sufficient legal and political oversight. This gets back to Bond. In today's world, countering non-state threats such as bin Laden needs highly skilled agents with the intellectual and operational skills to track down these enemies and the authority to take appropriate action. This runs counter to our culture, law and certainly to the structure of our security organizations. But unless and until we are prepared to make a serious assessment of the dangers and vulnerabilities, and then look at a range of solutions no matter how controversial, we will never be safe again. Not even 20 Bonds can change that reality even if they existed.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (59039)	11/27/2002 10:44:51 AM
From: Condor	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Arafat Deputy: Uprising Was a Mistake By KARIN LAUB 11/27/2002 09:37:08 EST JERUSALEM (AP) - Yasser Arafat's deputy was quoted as saying the armed uprising against Israel was a mistake and must be halted, but Palestinian militiamen said Wednesday they would renew attacks in Israel to avenge two leaders killed in a mysterious West Bank explosion. The office of Arafat's deputy in the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas, released a 20-page transcript of a closed-door meeting he held with Fatah activists last month in Gaza. In the session, Abbas sharply criticized the militias, saying it was a mistake to turn popular protests into an armed conflict with Israel. "What happened in these two years, as we see it now, is a complete destruction of everything we built," Abbas was quoted as saying. "The reason for this is that many people diverted the uprising from its natural path and embarked on a path we can't handle, with the use of weapons ... such as mortars, grenades and shooting from houses and populated areas." Abbas said shooting from populated areas endangered Palestinian lives and property, because it invited Israeli retaliation. "We have to control the situation, and I don't think there is anything that keeps us from succeeding," he said. "What is needed now is to say, clearly and firmly - until here and enough." Abbas did not mention Arafat by name, but since the Palestinian leader controls all aspects of government, the criticism was clearly aimed at him. For a time last month, Abbas had been considered a top contender for prime minister - a position reform-minded Fatah leaders wanted to create to force Arafat to share power. However, the initiative withered after Israel laid siege to Arafat's compound in response to a suicide attack, giving a boost to his sagging popularity. Israel, meanwhile, rejected Palestinian allegations that it was behind the blast in the Jenin refugee camp that killed the local leaders of the Islamic militant group Hamas and of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia affiliated with Arafat's Fatah movement. In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian bomber blew up a car near an Israeli-Palestinian liaison office, killing himself, but causing no injuries to bystanders. A radical PLO faction claimed responsibility. In a West Bank refugee camp, a drummer who wakes up residents for a pre-dawn meal during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, was killed by Israeli undercover troops, his colleague said. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, reaffirmed his conditional support for Palestinian statehood - a hotly contested issue in the race for leadership of his Likud party. Sharon's challenger, Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says he will not permit the establishment of a Palestinian state under any circumstance. If a peace deal is reached and Palestinian violence stops, "I don't believe there is a statesman who would oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state," Sharon told the Yediot Ahronot daily, adding that it would have to be demilitarized and that Israel would retain control over borders. Sharon is expected to trounce Netanyahu in Thursday's vote. Polls published Wednesday indicated Sharon was ahead by at least 20 percentage points. If Sharon wins, it means he is likely to keep his job, since the Likud is also expected to defeat the moderate Labor Party in Jan. 28 general elections. The two militia leaders were killed late Tuesday in the refugee camp. Fatah has been trying to persuade Hamas to halt attacks in Israel, at least for the duration of the Israeli election campaign. Ala Sabbagh of the Al Aqsa militia and Imad Nasharti of Hamas were in a room in a house under construction when they were killed. At the time, Israeli helicopter gunships and several armored vehicles were in the area, witnesses said. At one point, a loud explosion was heard, and rescue workers initially said the two militia leaders were killed by an Israeli missile fired from a helicopter, but Fatah officials later backed away from that claim. At funerals for the two militants, the militias vowed to avenge the killings, promising to target Israeli cities, among them Afula, Haifa and Tel Aviv. The Al Aqsa militia had decided in September to halt attacks in Israel, targeting instead Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian Authority condemned what he referred to as an Israeli assassination. "This is a major and dangerous escalation," he said. Israeli security officials said Israel was not involved in the deaths. Military officials initially said that while the army had no role, it was possible other security forces were involved or that the militants were killed while preparing a bomb. The Hamas-Fatah talks on halting attacks in Israel are sponsored by Egypt, which has been trying to persuade Israel to suspend targeted killings of Palestinian militants as a goodwill gesture. Sharon has not committed himself to such a deal. Since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in Sept. 2000, Israel has killed scores of militants, as well as a number of bystanders, in targeted attacks.