WCJ Comments on The National Security Strategy of the United States of America (17 September 2002)

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ix. Transform America 's National Security Institutions to Meet the Challenges and Opportunities of the Twenty‐First Century

“Terrorists attacked a symbol of American prosperity. They did not touch its source. America is successful because of the hard work, creativity, and enterprise of our people.”

President Bush – Washington, D.C. (Joint Session of Congress) – September 20, 2001

WCJ Comments The National Security Strategy of the United States of America Report – 17 September 2002
No.The NSS ReportComment
1The major institutions of American national security were designed in a different era to meet different requirements. All of them must be transformed.This is true.

But the purpose of this transformation should be not preservation of the old institutions, but satisfaction of the new requirements.

These new requirements cannot be satisfied unless they are clearly understood.

And this needs looking at the new world, not through the distorting prism of the 20th century ideologies, but afresh from prime principles.
2aIt is time to reaffirm the essential role of American military strength.Freedom, peace and security in today's world cannot be established by military strength of a single nation acting in its “national interests”.

No empire in Human History has succeeded in achieving that. And they all collapsed.

But in the same way as establishment of national police forces and systems of administration of justice in nation states has achieved greater security for private people than existed at the time when each person had to rely on his personal weapons and prowess to defend himself, abandonment by all the nation states of their national military might and vesting it in a supra‐national police and a system of administration of justice will result in far greater security for all nation states than can be achieved by reliance on their own military might or the might of a friendly “super‐power”.
bWe must build and maintain our defenses beyond challenge.As was demonstrated vividly on the 9/11, substantial damage can be caused by use of very primitive equipment in an ingenious way.

As long as there is sufficient motivation, there is no limit to human ingenuity. And no defenses can ever be 100% beyond challenge.

From shields and spears to guided missiles and anti‐ballistic defense systems, all human history is a proof, that each new weapon leads to a new means of defense, and each new means of defense leads to a new weapon.

It is a vicious circle that can be only broken by removing the causes of wars and terrorism.

And this can be only done by all the national states submitting themselves to a supra‐national law based not on the principle of “might is right”, but on the principle of equality of all nations under the law.
cOur military's highest priority is to defend the United States.Against whom? The Specter of Global Terrorism? … the Rogue States? … own Hysteria and Paranoia?
dTo do so effectively, our military must:
  • assure our allies and friends;
As long as the US Government thinks in terms of “allies” and “friends”, there will be “enemies”, and there will be no peace and security either for the United States or the rest of the world.
e
  • dissuade future military competition;
As long as at least one nation retains its “military might”, other nations will feel insecure and will seek to match or exceed this military might.

This has been all the history of Mankind.

The only way to stop all military competition is for all nations to disarm and to vest the responsibility for their security in a supra‐national police force.
f
  • deter threats against U.S. interests, allies, and friends; and
As long as the US has “allies” and “friends” and seeks to advance its “interests” by military force, it will have “enemies”.

And as long as it threatens its enemies, it, and its allies and friends, will be under constant threat.

No empire has ever succeeded to conquer the world and keep that conquest for ever.
g
  • decisively defeat any adversary if deterrence fails.
No empire has ever succeeded in always defeating its adversaries.

They all had their victories, and their defeats.

In the end they all collapsed.
3The unparalleled strength of the United States armed forces, and their forward presence, have maintained the peace in some of the world's most strategically vital regions. However, the threats and enemies we must confront have changed, and so must our forces. A military structured to deter massive Cold War'era armies must be transformed to focus more on how an adversary might fight rather than where and when a war might occur. We will channel our energies to overcome a host of operational challenges.The reason for wars were ambitions by national state leaders.The reason for terrorism is absence of peaceful means of redressing injustices committed by national governments.

The means of preventing wars in the past was deterrence.

But deterrence does not work as a means of prevention of terrorism.
4The presence of American forces overseas is one of the most profound symbols of the U.S. commitments to allies and friends. Through our willingness to use force in our own defense and in defense of others, the United States demonstrates its resolve to maintain a balance of power that favors freedom. To contend with uncertainty and to meet the many security challenges we face, the United States will require bases and stations within and beyond Western Europe and Northeast Asia, as well as temporary access arrangements for the long‐distance deployment of U.S. forces.No balance of power favors freedom for all.

It might favor freedom for some at the expense of others.

But this leads to conflicts and insecurity — exactly the opposite what the US Government seek to achieve.
5Before the war in Afghanistan, that area was low on the list of major planning contingencies. Yet, in a very short time, we had to operate across the length and breadth of that remote nation, using every branch of the armed forces. We must prepare for more such deployments by developing assets such as advanced remote sensing, long‐range precision strike capabilities, and transformed maneuver and expeditionary forces. This broad portfolio of military capabilities must also include the ability to defend the homeland, conduct information operations, ensure U.S. access to distant theaters, and protect critical U.S. infrastructure and assets in outer space.The war against Afghanistan was not justifiable.

It happened because of a panic reaction by the US government to the events of the 9/11.

But the unexpectedly easy “victory” (withdrawal of the Taliban) has encouraged the US government in a belief that they can “change regimes” around the world as they please.

The ideas expressed in this present report are based on that belief.
6Innovation within the armed forces will rest on experimentation with new approaches to warfare, strengthening joint operations, exploiting U.S. intelligence advantages, and taking full advantage of science and technology. We must also transform the way the Department of Defense is run, especially in financial management and recruitment and retention. Finally, while maintaining near‐term readiness and the ability to fight the war on terrorism, the goal must be to provide the President with a wider range of military options to discourage aggression or any form of coercion against the United States, our allies, and our friends.Failure to understand the phenomenon of terrorism and the view of the world as consisting of the US and its “friends” and “allies” and of the Dark Forces of the “Global Terrorism” and the “Rogue States” mean that the world will see destruction and bloodshed similar to that of Palestine and Afghanistan for years and decades to come.
7We know from history that deterrence can fail; and we know from experience that some enemies cannot be deterred. The United States must and will maintain the capability to defeat any attempt by an enemy — whether a state or non‐state actor — to impose its will on the United States, our allies, or our friends. We will maintain the forces sufficient to support our obligations, and to defend freedom. Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military build‐up in hopes of surpassing, or equaling, the power of the United States.The event of the 9/11 did not require any military build‐up whatsoever.

And the American operations in Afghanistan and their support of the Israeli war against the Palestinians, as well as their connivance with the oppression of small nations by other “super'powers” are sufficient factors to generate enough resentment against the US and to fuel other terrorist attacks, which can happen at any time, anywhere, and in a way that is impossible to predict.

Has the War on Terror made the world a safer place?
8Intelligence — and how we use it — is our first line of defense against terrorists and the threat posed by hostile states. Designed around the priority of gathering enormous information about a massive, fixed object — the Soviet bloc — the intelligence community is coping with the challenge of following a far more complex and elusive set of targets.The US intelligence has failed to prevent the events of the 9/11. How can one be sure it will prevent some unforeseeable events in the future?
9We must transform our intelligence capabilities and build new ones to keep pace with the nature of these threats. Intelligence must be appropriately integrated with our defense and law enforcement systems and coordinated with our allies and friends. We need to protect the capabilities we have so that we do not arm our enemies with the knowledge of how best to surprise us. Those who would harm us also seek the benefit of surprise to limit our prevention and response options and to maximize injury.Given the approach of the US government which encourages enmity and provokes hatred, they can be sure that enough people would be sufficiently motivated for further acts of terror against the US. There is no limit to human ingenuity, given sufficient motivation.
10We must strengthen intelligence warning and analysis to provide integrated threat assessments for national and homeland security. Since the threats inspired by foreign governments and groups may be conducted inside the United States, we must also ensure the proper fusion of information between intelligence and law enforcement.The events of the 9/11 were not inspired by a government, as far as is publicly known.
11Initiatives in this area will include:
  • strengthening the authority of the Director of Central Intelligence to lead the development and actions of the Nation's foreign intelligence capabilities;
  • establishing a new framework for intelligence warning that provides seamless and integrated warning across the spectrum of threats facing the nation and our allies;
  • continuing to develop new methods of collecting information to sustain our intelligence advantage;
  • investing in future capabilities while working to protect them through a more vigorous effort to prevent the compromise of intelligence capabilities; and
  • collecting intelligence against the terrorist danger across the government with all source analysis.
None of this can prevent all cases of terrorism, because human ingenuity has no limits. And it all would have been unnecessary, had the US government abandoned its paranoid war on terror and concentrated on establishment of supra‐national institutions, which would lead to a peaceful and secure world.
12As the United States Government relies on the armed forces to defend America's interests, it must rely on diplomacy to interact with other nations. We will ensure that the Department of State receives funding sufficient to ensure the success of American diplomacy. The State Department takes the lead in managing our bilateral relationships with other governments. And in this new era, its people and institutions must be able to interact equally adroitly with non‐governmental organizations and international institutions. Officials trained mainly in international politics must also extend their reach to understand complex issues of domestic governance around the world, including public health, education, law enforcement, the judiciary, and public diplomacy.A world order based on unlimited powers of nation states, in which nations seek to dominate each other and advance their “national interests” at other nations' expense cannot ensure peace, no matter what military might America develops, or what diplomatic efforts it makes.
13Our diplomats serve at the front line of complex negotiations, civil wars, and other humanitarian catastrophes. As humanitarian relief requirements are better understood, we must also be able to help build police forces, court systems, and legal codes, local and provincial government institutions, and electoral systems. Effective international cooperation is needed to accomplish these goals, backed by American readiness to play our part.So far the US government has been the cause of humanitarian catastrophes, and an obstacle to resolution of disputes.

Afghanistan and Palestine are clear examples.
14Just as our diplomatic institutions must adapt so that we can reach out to others, we also need a different and more comprehensive approach to public information efforts that can help people around the world learn about and understand America. The war on terrorism is not a clash of civilizations. It does, however, reveal the clash inside a civilization, a battle for the future of the Muslim world. This is a struggle of ideas and this is an area where America must excel.And what is this struggle of ideas?

To corrupt the Muslim nations with alcohol, pop music, promiscuous sex, and sodomy?

Is this what they mean by “civilization”?
15We will take the actions necessary to ensure that our efforts to meet our global security commitments and protect Americans are not impaired by the potential for investigations, inquiry, or prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose jurisdiction does not extend to Americans and which we do not accept. We will work together with other nations to avoid complications in our military operations and cooperation, through such mechanisms as multilateral and bilateral agreements that will protect U.S. nationals from the ICC. We will implement fully the American Service members Protection Act, whose provisions are intended to ensure and enhance the protection of U.S. personnel and officials.This is a clear example of the American “ideals” and respect for “the rule of law”.

They see themselves as infallible. And then they wonder, why people hate the Americans so much!

And then they spend billions of dollars on propaganda to improve their image.

Do they not understand that people are not as gullible as they would like them to be?

Do they not understand that actions speak louder than words?
16We will make hard choices in the coming year and beyond to ensure the right level and allocation of government spending on national security. The United States Government must strengthen its defenses to win this war. At home, our most important priority is to protect the homeland for the American people.Which war?

By failing to redress the existing injustices and causing more and more injustices around the world, by acting as a frivolous “super‐power” that sees its own “national interests” above the interests of all the other nations, by putting itself above the law, the US is ensuring a constant supply of hostility towards itself.

The war, they are waging, is caused by themselves, and they will never win it.

The war will finish when a more realistic and responsible government of the United States will understand the futility of this war and will change the US foreign policy.
17aToday, the distinction between domestic and foreign affairs is diminishing. In a globalized world, events beyond America's borders have a greater impact inside them. Our society must be open to people, ideas, and goods from across the globe.This is true.

But the US government are failing to draw from this a valid logical conclusion — the need for global disarmament and establishment of a supra‐national legal and policing framework based on the principle of equality of all nations under the law.
bThe characteristics we most cherish — our freedom, our cities, our systems of movement, and modern life — are vulnerable to terrorism.Yes, they are.

But terrorism is not inevitable.

The only reason it persists is because the US government do not understand the phenomenon of terrorism.
cThis vulnerability will persist long after we bring to justice those responsible for the September 11 attacks.The irrational obsession with capturing or killing those responsible for the 9/11 attacks has resulted in the US attack on Afghanistan and in the anti‐terror hysteria, which lead the US government to acceptance of the Netanyahu blue print for a new world order. And this Netanyahu world order will lead to destruction and bloodshed for years and decades to come.
dAs time passes, individuals may gain access to means of destruction that until now could be wielded only by armies, fleets, and squadrons. This is a new condition of life.This new condition of life is the direct result of the US foreign policy. And as long as this policy is based on the Netanyahu doctrine, this condition will persist.
eWe will adjust to it and thrive — in spite of it.Adjust — maybe. Thrive — no. They might win some battles, but the war they are waging cannot be won.
18In exercising our leadership, we will respect the values, judgment, and interests of our friends and partners. Still, we will be prepared to act apart when our interests and unique responsibilities require. When we disagree on particulars, we will explain forthrightly the grounds for our concerns and strive to forge viable alternatives. We will not allow such disagreements to obscure our determination to secure together, with our allies and our friends, our shared fundamental interests and values.It is unfortunate that the interests and values are not specifically stated.

But, if these interests are a free, peaceful and secure world, then the main obstacle to securing these objectives is the US foreign policy.

And until the US government abandon their “super‐power” philosophy, reject the old mentality of “friends” and “allies” and develop an understanding of the needs of today's world they will remain the main obstacle to a free, peaceful and secure world.
19Ultimately, the foundation of American strength is at home. It is in the skills of our people, the dynamism of our economy, and the resilience of our institutions. A diverse, modern society has inherent, ambitious, entrepreneurial energy. Our strength comes from what we do with that energy. That is where our national security begins.But as long as the US government remains in the clutches of their anti‐terror paranoia, and super‐power megalomania, the skills of the American people, the dynamism of the American economy, and the resilience of the American institutions will be wasted on military adventures that will bring to the world nothing but destruction and bloodshed.

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