On September 11, 2001 I was in my 11th month working as an operations officer for the CIA. I remember everybody’s initial feelings of shock and disbelief, which were quickly replaced by an intense determination to locate those responsible and bring them to justice. Accompanying it was a tireless drive to stop anything like the 9/11 attacks from happening again. Fifteen years later, the CIA and our other security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies are still operating as though it is September 12, 2001. Their efforts have prevented another foreign-planned terrorist attack inside the United States from taking place.
Winning the War on Terror on All Fronts
“Since 9/11 the terrorist threat has become much more dynamic, fluid, and widespread. It has become necessary to identify and combat non-state actors with violent animosity toward the U.S. wherever they might exist.”
Por:Will Hurd
US President Barack Obama accompanied by Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford observe moment of silence, during a ceremony in observance to mark the15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the Pentagon Memorial
Imagen Luis Magana/AFP/Getty Images
Since 9/11 the terrorist threat has become much more dynamic, fluid, and widespread. It has become necessary to identify and combat non-state actors with violent animosity toward the U.S. wherever they might exist.
Despite a near universal desire for an end to Venezuela’s manmade disaster, sending in U.S forces to take out the Maduro regime would be counter-productive. It should be categorically rejected by interim president Juan Guaidó, not to mention the Trump administration.
The firing of undocumented workers at Trump's golf clubs just shows how the practice of employing immigrants without legal work papers is much more common than we might imagine. Such is life in the United States.
The Trump administration should be wary of fueling fake news predictions about an imminent American invasion which unrealistically raises expectations about Maduro's removal.
At some point we will have to accept the fact that the border between Mexico and the United States is nothing more than an invention.
The United States has had a major role in the evolving drama of the fight for democracy in Venezuela and Nicaragua. And so far, it’s been surprisingly coordinated, a veritable model of multilateralism.
Has the Maduro regime reached breaking point? It remains hard to say, but tomorrow is another - more hopeful - day for the restoration of democracy in the South American nation.
It’s impossible to get into Trump’s head but what comes out of his mouth are racist remarks. But, saddest of all are the millions who tolerate his views, cheer him on and emulate his behavior.
The time is well past due for the U.S. government to conduct a thorough review of leaders and their senior colleagues before they leave office to determine if they merit visas.
We are not just chasing Al Qaeda out of the mountains of Tora Bora. Terrorists have expanded both their territorial presence and their non-material presence. By this I mean the global Jihadist movement has morphed into a millennium-style, modern day ideological fighting force. We need to do a better job combating it as such. Defeating ISIS on the battlefields in Iraq and Syria will not alone eradicate the threat they pose to us or to our allies.
A number of initiatives to combat extremist ideology have begun in Europe, and even in the U.S. to a certain extent. But much more needs to be done. There is the domestic element that should focus on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) efforts at the local level. This would involve a partnership between government initiatives and community leaders to ensure members of the community are not vulnerable to extremist ideology propaganda.
The House Homeland Security Committee has already taken a number of actions to support these efforts, including Chairman Michael McCaul’s Countering Terrorist Radicalization Act. This bill supports CVE efforts at the Department of Homeland Security and authorizes the department to include former terrorist testimony in their CVE programs. I also introduced a bill titled the Foreign Fighter Review Act, which directs the president to conduct a review into the number of people who have joined or attempted to join terrorist organizations in Iraq and Syria from the United States. While both bills have passed the House of Representatives they await action in the Senate.
Then there is the international element which needs to focus on countering the extremist narrative on the global scale. ISIS’s presentation of the U.S.’s involvement in the Middle East over history is obviously nonfactual. Nevertheless their videos circulate widely without challenge, and are therefore effective recruitment tools. That needs to change.
This is not the first time the U.S. has engaged in an ideological battle. The entire Cold War was a struggle between the U.S.’s values of freedom and liberal democracy, and Soviet-style communism. That war took decades to complete. We can expect this ideological battle to be even longer. We can expect it to be more difficult because the enemy is less straightforward. We can expect it to demand even more of our nation’s innovative talents. So too can we expect it to be a heavier burden on our American values, without which the character of our nation cannot survive.
We have learned much over the last 15 years about our enemies and about ourselves. There is no doubt in my mind we will emerge victorious from this war.
Disclaimer: We selected this Op-Ed to be published in our opinion section as a contribution to public debate. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of its author(s) and/or the organization(s) they represent and do not reflect the views or the editorial line of Univision Noticias.
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