(Greg Djerejian is a financial services professional and publishes the popular blog The Belgravia Dispatch) I agree with almost everything Peter writes below (particularly his “second” mistake, the clever subtlety he flags in his “third mistake”, and then too his last paragraph-to which I’d add the need to effectively engage with Syria too).
(Peter Bergen is a Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation). I wanted to respond to the idea that somehow we are making the same mistake in Afghanistan that the Soviets did. This is a real misreading of history. The Soviets killed at least 1.
(Alistair Millar is the Director of the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation.
Mustafa Barghouti is one of Palestine’s real gems — a former doctor turned political leader who previously ran for the presidency of Palestine. He now heads the Palestinian National Initiative and is an advocate of non-violent resistance against Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
(Greg Djerejian is a financial services professional and publishes the popular blog The Belgravia Dispatch) In regards to Stephanie’s answer to the second prompt, she writes: It is time to put the myth of the pre-9/11 mindset to rest… with which I think I mostly concur–save with some reservations about the level of attention both…
(Stephanie Kaplan is a Visiting Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center). I agree with Matt that the notion that U.S. counterterrorism policy is largely under the purview of the military is a false one. It relates, I think, to the partisan charge that the Democrats possess a “pre-9/11 mindset” when it comes to counterterrorism….
Karen Hughes finally got a successor in her previous role as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, and it is entrepreneur, writer, and thinker James Glassman who was until recently Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
(Matthew Levitt is a Senior fellow and Director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy).
It seems that counter-terrorism responsibility has fallen mainly under the purview of the military.
I think it’s terrific that Barack Obama went abroad to connect with leaders and some people in Europe and the Middle East. I think he should have gone to Brussels — but I can certainly embrace that he emphasized ‘engagement’ with this trip.
