It's Time To End The War On Terror

• Volume 51, Presented On: September 07, 2011
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From the Panel

• For: Peter Bergen

• Articles by Peter Bergen
  Read publications by Peter Bergen on the New America Foundation website.
• The War on Terror Should Be Retired (interview)
  Gregor Peter Schmitz, Spiegel Online, May 6, 2011, May 6, 2011
  Two recent events suggest the War on Terror should be retired as an operating concept: the Arab Spring, which undercuts al Qaeda’s ideology, and the death of bin Laden, which undercuts al Qaeda as an organization.
• Ten Years On - The Evolution of the Terrorist Threat Since 9/11
  Peter Bergen, New America Foundation, June 22, 2011
  Al Qaeda no longer poses a national security threat to the American homeland on the scale of 9/11, however, jihadist terrorism isn't going away, and we should realize that al Qaeda or an affiliate will eventually succeed in getting some kind of attack through. The best response is resilience.
• A Talk With CNN Security Analyst Peter Bergen
  Mohammed Al Shafey, Asharq Al-Awsat, May 18, 2011
  In his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Bergen discusses the killing of Osama bin Laden, the strained relations between Washington and Islamabad, and what the future now holds for the al Qaeda organization.
• Peter Bergen: After Bin Laden
  Asia Society, May 5, 2011
  Bergen argues that the major offensives in the Middle East and Central Asia should end and fields questions about the status of counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Where Will Zawahiri Take al Qaeda?
  Peter Bergen, Washington Post, June 17, 2011
  After several years of declining influence and disrupted terror plots, al Qaeda is struggling to remain relevant. Its new leader, the ineffective and uninspiring Ayman al-Zawahiri, does not look like the man who can turn things around.

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• For: Juliette Kayyem

• Articles by Juliette Kayyem
  Boston Globe, July 12, 2010
  Read Juliette Kayyem’s column at the Boston Globe.
• Juliette Kayyem: Remembering September 11
  Interview on PRI’s The World, August 2, 2011
  Anchor Lisa Mullins talks with Juliette Kayyem about September 11th attacks of 2001 and how homeland security has evolved in the past 10 years.
• Are We Safer Now?
  Juliette Kayyem, Boston Globe, May 3, 2011
  “Recalibrating our national mood about all things terror — from outrage and panic to resolute calmness” has been a priority for the Obama administration. The nation must discard the victim mentality and adjust to the changing nature of terrorism.
• Osama Bin Laden's Death: Terror Backlash?
  ABC News, May 3, 2011
  There is a significant threat of small-scale terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States in the short term after bin Laden’s death. The long-term outlook is uncertain, but unrest in the Arab World presents opportunities for al Qaeda to regroup and grow.
• Al-Zawahiri Takes Lead of al Qaeda, Vowing “Blood for Blood” for Bin Laden Death
  PBS NewHour, June 16, 2011
  Juliette Kayyem and Daniel Byman discuss the promotion of Ayman Zawahiri to al Qaeda’s top post and the type of challenges he faces from democratic movements and U.S. drone attacks.

• Against: Richard Falkenrath

• 9/11 Lessons: Homeland Security
  Richard A. Falkenrath, Council on Foreign Relations, August 26, 2011
  Part of the series "Ten Lessons Since the 9/11 Attacks," in which CFR fellows identify the top threats and responses going forward.
• Was Bin Laden the Easy Part?: Facing Washington’s Many Dilemmas in the Middle East
  Richard A. Falkenrath, Foreign Affairs, May 5, 2011
  With bin Laden gone, life is about to become more complicated for U.S. policymakers trying to combat terrorism.
• Richard Falkenrath Interview on Bin Laden’s Death
  InsideTrack, Bloomberg, May 2, 2011
  In this interview, Falkenrath concludes the risk the United States faces from terrorism remains high even after bin Laden’s death.

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• Against: Michael Hayden

• Gen. Hayden Discusses bin Laden Hunt at Spy Conference
  Jay Price, (Raleigh) News & Observer, August 22, 2011
  General Hayden discusses what the U.S. knew about bin Laden’s whereabouts and the challenges of spying in an era of terrorists with websites and satellite phones in this interview.
• Hayden, Chertoff Buck Republican Call to Bring Troops Home From Afghanistan
  Andrea Stone, Huffington Post, June 16, 2011
  The killing of Osama bin Laden and the mounting cost of the Afghan campaign are no reason to leave just yet.
• Meet the Press Transcript
  Meet the Press, MSNBC, May 8, 2011
  A roundtable interview with Michael Hayden, Michael Chertoff and Rudy Giuliani on the death of Osama bin Laden, the diffusion of threat from al Qaeda and its affiliates, the utility of harsh interrogation, and Pakistan.
• Birthers, Truthers and Interrogation Deniers
  Michael Hayden, Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2011
  The latest lunacy to get a popular hearing is the idea that harsh CIA interrogations yielded no useful intelligence.

Articles For & Against

• For the Motion

• The War on Terror Is Over
  Peter Beinart, The Daily Beast, May 1, 2011
  Terrorism does not represent the greatest threat to American security; debt does, and our anti-terror efforts are exacerbating the problem.
• After bin Laden: Is the War on Terror Winding Down?
  James Kitfield, National Journal, May 6, 2011
  The marginalization of al Qaeda will not bring an end to the terrorist threat or free the United States from the need for constant vigilance. But the revolutionary vanguard that Osama bin Laden envisioned leading, with its inexhaustible legions of recruits bent on endless jihad against the West, has been extinguished.
• Why We Must End The War On Terror
  Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Nation, May 2, 2011
  Terrorism is not an enemy that threatens the existence of our nation; our response should not undermine the very values that define America for ourselves and the rest of the world.
• Terrorized by “War on Terror”
  Zbigniew Brzezinski, Washington Post, March 25 2007
  The "war on terror" has created a culture of fear in America. The Bush administration's elevation of these three words into a national mantra has had a pernicious impact on American democracy, on America's psyche and on U.S. standing in the world.
• What Islamist Terrorist Threat?
  Shikha Dalmia, Reason, February 15, 2011
  An attack that kills 3,000 citizens—even if only once every 10 years—is nothing to ignore. But is it worth spending $1 trillion on two ongoing wars and $1 trillion on enhanced homeland security—America’s post-9-11 terrorism expenditure?
• What is the “War on Terror?”
  John Judis, New Republic Online, June 5, 2006
  What was once the war against terror should not be ignored, but it should be redefined as a police and intelligence operation. It still demands considerable resources, and vigilance, but it can no longer be seen as central to American foreign and military policy.

• Against the Motion

• Evil Does Not Die of Natural Causes
  Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, May 5, 2011
  The bin Laden operation is the perfect vindication of the war on terror.
• After Bin Laden
  Michael Rubin, American Enterprise Institute, June 1, 2011
  The war on terrorism is far from over. On an ideological level, their core theology requires the extremists to continue their struggle, and so Western disengagement would be only a form of unilateral disarmament. We will stop. They won't.
• Beinart's Wrong Again - The War On Terror Is Not Over
  Moshe Phillips, American Thinker, May 7, 2011
  The greatest threat to American security today is from Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist organizations. Seeing the war as over will not help this nation to keep vigilant as it must to stay secure.
• Winning post-Bin Laden War
  Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, New York Daily News, May 9, 2011
  We cannot let our guard down. While a 9/11-type attack is less likely today, Al Qaeda and its affiliates are persistent and their associations and tactics are diverse.
• Bin Laden is Dead
  Frederick Kagan, The Weekly Standard, May 16, 2011
  Those sincerely concerned with America’s security should reject the notion that bin Laden’s death will allow us to declare “mission accomplished” and withdraw from the Middle East, and the world.
• The War on Terror Will Continue
  Charlie Szrom, Foreign Policy, May 2, 2011
  We now have the opportunity to turn a symbolic victory into a material victory in the war on terror. Bin Laden's death presents the U.S. with a real opportunity to shift the momentum on the ground back in our favor.
• Osama bin Laden Dead - But Clinton Vows to Continue War on Al Qaeda
  Esther Addley, Ewen MacAskill, Jon Boone, Guardian, May 2, 2011
  America's war with al Qaeda will not stop with the death of its leader, Osama bin Laden, Hillary Clinton has warned, telling the terrorist network: "You cannot wait us out; you cannot defeat us."

Related Articles

• Defining the War on Terror

• Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People
  President George W. Bush, September 20, 2001
  Days after the September 11th terrorist attacks, President Bush declared a war on terror that would begin with al Qaeda and “not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.”
• Defining the War on Terror
  Guy Raz, All Things Considered, November 1, 2006
  In the war on terror, there's no specific battlefield and the enemy isn't an army. It is, in theory, an endless war –- a war that approaches something closer to a way of life.
• What’s in a Name?
  Nancy Gibbs, Time, January 12, 2006
  The War on Terror is at war with itself.
• What Exactly Is the “War on Terror?”
  Mark N. Katz, Middle East Policy Council, September 30, 2010
  The War on Terror era includes many other conflicts in which the United States vs. al Qaeda element is present, but which also have their own distinct issues and causes.

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• Al Qaeda

• Backgrounder: al Qaeda
  Jayshree Bajoira Greg Bruno, Council on Foreign Relations, June 17, 2011
  Al Qaeda was founded by bin Laden in the late 1980’s after the Soviet retreat from Afghanistan to continue the “holy war” against the West and install fundamentalist Islamic regimes across the world. Since then, the group has committed numerous acts of terrorism in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Southern Asia, and the United States.
• Al Qaeda and Affiliates: Historical Perspective, Global Presence, and Implications for U.S. Policy
  John Rollins, Congressional Research Service, February 5, 2010
  Al Qaeda has changed from a core cadre of veterans of the Afghan insurgency against the Soviets to a diffuse global network with thousands of members and associates. While the nature of the group has changed, its mission remains the same: establishing a global caliphate under extremist Islamic law through violent revolution.
• They Got Him
  The Economist, May 5, 2011
  What the death of the movement’s figurehead means for al Qaeda, Pakistan, Afghanistan—and the West.
• Al Qaeda’s Prognosis
  Max Boot, Foreign Affairs, May 5, 2011
  Al Qaeda may be dealt a crippling blow by bin Laden’s loss, but the larger Islamist terrorist network will likely survive his death.
• Al Qaeda Without Bin Laden
  Brynjar Lia, Foreign Affairs, May 11, 2011
  Al Qaeda is likely to survive bin Laden’s killing for one simple reason: the group had already largely passed him by.
• The Al Qaeda-Iran Connection
  Bruce Riedel, Brookings Institution, May 29, 2011
  A number of senior al Qaeda operatives fled to Iran after 9/11, remaining under Tehran’s loose control until their return to Pakistan, under mysterious circumstances, late last year.

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• Bin Laden Documents

• New Details in the bin Laden Docs: Portrait of a Fugitive Micro-Manager
  Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, May 11, 2011
  A trove of digital communications and hand-written notes show how bin Laden ran his weakened network from his solitary hideout in a garrison town in Pakistan.
• Bin Laden Document Trove Reveals Strain on al Qaeda
  Greg Miller, Washington Post, July 1, 2011
  Over the past year, bin Laden fielded e-mails from followers lamenting the toll being taken by CIA drone “explosions” as well as the network’s financial plight.

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• National Defense Authorization Act & AUMF

• Authorization for Use of Military Force in Response to the 9/11 Attacks: Legislative History
  Richard F. Grimmett, CRS Report for Congress, January 16, 2007
  On September 14, 2001, Congress authorized the President to “use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons….” This report provides a legislative history of this statute, the “Authorization for Use of Military Force” (AUMF).
• Senate Offers Revised Rules for Suspects of Terrorism
  Charlie Savage, New York Times, April 27, 2010
  A bi-partisan package authorizing the use of military force against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks, which includes the power to detain members of Al Qaeda, the Taliban and associated forces.
• House Approves Defense Bill
  Megan Scully, National Journal, May 26, 2011
  The House on Thursday approved the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill 322-96 after Republicans successfully fought off Democrats' attempts to strip divisive language on detainees and the use of military force.
• GOP Seeks to Redefine War on Terror
  Josh Gerstein, Politico May 10, 2011
  Congress is set to engage in a debate over whether to extend the war on terror indefinitely or leave in place legislation that could eventually wind it down.
• Reauthorize the War on Terrorism
  Editorial Board, Washington Post, May 17, 2011
  Two presidents from opposing parties have made it clear that the United States would not stand idly by when other countries are unwilling or unable to ferret out the terrorists among them. The presidents were bolstered in their conclusions by the original Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and by international law, which recognizes a country’s inherent right to self-defense.
• A Conflict Without End
  Editorial, New York Times, May 16, 2011
  A new bill, approved last week by the House Armed Services Committee would, in essence, make the War on Terror permanent and limitless, along with its huge potential for abuse.

• Legal Framework

• The 9/14 Presidency
  Eli Lake, Reason, April 6, 2010
  Barack Obama is operating with war powers granted George W. Bush three days after the 9/11 attacks.
• Legal Architecture for the War on Terror
  Brookings, September, 2010
  Examining the legal issues surrounding the detention, interrogation and surveillance of suspect terrorists, experts offer a legal counterterrorism framework that both authorizes and regulates the difficult actions American forces make when confronting terrorists.
• The LWOT
  Foreign Policy & New America Foundation
  Foreign Policy and the New America Foundation’s twice weekly brief on the legal war on terror.
• Targeted Killing and Drone Warfare
  Kenneth Anderson, Future Challenges in National Security and Law, April 2011
  The emergence of a new technology has changed the debate over the legal nature of war and counterterrorism.

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• Afghanistan and Pakistan

• Record Number Favors Removing U.S. Troops from Afghanistan
  Pew Research Center, June 21, 2011
  As President Obama prepares to announce his policy for drawing down U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the percentage of Americans who favor removing the troops as soon as possible has reached an all-time high according to Pew Research Center surveys.
• A Brand-New Plan for Afghanistan
  Fred Kaplan, Slate, June 22, 2011
  President Obama's decision to pull 33,000 troops out of Afghanistan by the end of next summer—10,000 of them by the end of this year—reflects a scaling back of U.S. goals and strategy in the war.
• The Al Qaeda Threat in Pakistan: Testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee
  Seth G. Jones, RAND Corporation, May 24, 2011
  Failure to adequately deal with the terrorist threat in Pakistan will not only prolong this struggle, but it will severely undermine on-going U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, risk the further destabilization of a nuclear Pakistan, and ultimately threaten the U.S. homeland.
• Dominoes on the Durand Line? Overcoming Strategic Myths in Afghanistan and Pakistan
  Joshua Rovner and Austin Long, Cato Institute, June 14, 2011
  The conditions that allowed Afghanistan to serve as a terrorist home base in the 1990’s have changed permanently. The U.S. doesn’t need a strong Afghan state to prevent jihadis from building a safe haven there or to keep Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal out of the hands of terrorists.
• Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland Emanating from Pakistan
  Frederick Kagan, AEI, May 3, 2011
  Even with bin Laden out of the picture there is still a strong and dangerous contingent of terrorist networks in Pakistan. The worst thing we could do now would be to take bin Laden's death or the progress made in Afghanistan as an excuse to withdraw forces prematurely, thereby easing the pressure on militant Islamist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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• Related Links

• Costs of War
  Eisenhower Study Group, June 2011
  In 10 years the U.S. has launched 2 major wars and engaged in the largest reorganization of its government since the Great Depression. An estimated 225,000 people – men and women in uniform, contractors, and civilians—have been killed and $3.2-4 trillion has been spent and obligated to date.
• Obama’s War on Terror
  Peter Baker, New York Times, January 4, 2010
  The Obama administration spent its first year in office trying to find its balance in the fight against terrorism.
• U.S. Willing to Leave 10,000 Troops in Iraq Past Year’s End, Officials Say
  Davis S. Cloud & Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times, July 6, 2011
  Keeping U.S. troops in Iraq after the departure deadline would require an accord of Iraq’s deeply divided government. The Iraqis have not made a formal request for U.S. troops to stay.