Tonight, I will be on “The Majority Report” with Sam Seder talking about the big terrorism conference, the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the National Guard, John Bolton and the U.N. Millennium Summit, and other topics.
I am also pleased to report that General Wesley Clark who is one of the terrorism conference’s keynote speakers will be on the program also — talking about his proposal regarding Iraq as well as our mega-conference on America’s “next phase” response to terrorism.
Wesley Clark recently published this op-ed in the Washington Post which makes the important point that military and police means alone will never win the struggle against terrorists nor help the U.S. connect to the peoples around the world that terrorism is trying to appeal to.
An excerpt:
On the military side, the vast effort underway to train an army must be matched by efforts to train police and local justices. Canada, France and Germany should be engaged to assist. Neighboring states should also provide observers and technical assistance. In military terms, striking at insurgents and terrorists is necessary but insufficient.
Military and security operations must return primarily to the tried-and-true methods of counterinsurgency: winning the hearts and minds of the populace through civic action, small-scale economic development and positive daily interactions. Ten thousand Arab Americans with full language proficiency should be recruited to assist as interpreters.
A better effort must be made to control jihadist infiltration into the country by a combination of outposts, patrols and reaction forces reinforced by high technology. Over time U.S. forces should be pulled back into reserve roles and phased out.
The growing chorus of voices demanding a pullout should seriously alarm the Bush administration, because President Bush and his team are repeating the failure of Vietnam: failing to craft a realistic and effective policy and instead simply demanding that the American people show resolve. Resolve isn’t enough to mend a flawed approach — or to save the lives of our troops.
If the administration won’t adopt a winning strategy, then the American people will be justified in demanding that it bring our troops home.
Makes a lot of sense to me.
I should also mention that General Clark is blogging until September 2nd at “Table for One” at TPM Cafe, my other blog home where I have been AWOL during the planning for this conference.
Start times for the radio show tonight: Steve Clemons on at 8 p.m. Wesley Clark will be on at 8:30 p.m., eastern time.
More later.
— Steve Clemons
