Republican Senator Gives Great Speech On Terrorism

He actually talks about "root causes". A lot of Democratic Senators could learn something from Lugar. Actually most of them know this stuff, they're just too chickensh_t to say it.


Text of the Speech by Richard G. Lugar [R-Ind.], Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the Class Day Ceremony at The Fletcher School at Tufts University on Saturday, May 22, 2004

Full text of speech (http://fletcher.tufts.edu/news/2004/05/lugar.shtml)

...The United States cannot feed every person, lift every person out of poverty, cure every disease, or stop every conflict. But our power and status have conferred upon us a tremendous responsibility to humanity. In an era afflicted with terrorism, the world will not be secure and just and prosperous unless the united states and talented individuals devote themselves to international leadership.

to win the war against terrorism, the united states must assign u.s. economic and diplomatic capabilities the same strategic priority that we assign to military capabilities. there are no shortcuts to victory. we must commit ourselves to the slow, painstaking work of foreign policy day by day and year by year.

In response to September 11, 2001, the United States has created a new Department of Homeland Security, improved airport and seaport security, reconfigured our military weapons and tactics, and scrutinized the efficiency of our intelligence services. All of these steps may help to make us safer. But taking military action against terrorists and their supporters and improving homeland defense are not the same as executing a global strategy designed to overcome terrorism. Military action is necessary to defeat serious and immediate threats to our national security. But the war on terrorism will not be won through attrition - particularly since military action will often breed more terrorists and more resentment of the United States. Nor is the threat or use of military force likely to achieve national realignments that mitigate the extreme danger posed by terrorism in an age when weapons and materials of mass destruction are increasingly available.

Unless the United States commits itself to a sustained program of repairing and building alliances, expanding trade, pursuing resolutions to regional conflicts, supporting democracy and development worldwide, and controlling weapons of mass destruction, we are likely to experience acts of catastrophic terrorism that would undermine our economy, damage our society, and kill hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people.

The United States, as a nation, simply has not made this commitment. We are worried about terrorism, but the evolution of national security policy has not kept up with the threat. We have relied heavily on military options and unilateral approaches that weakened our alliances. We have engaged in self-flagellation over the September 11 tragedy rather than executing affirmative global strategies aimed at addressing the root causes of terrorism.

The United States has launched a few innovative programs such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Global Aids Initiative, but we have not approached foreign policy with the determination and imagination that is required to respond to the risks that we face. Our commitment of resources has remained incremental and our suspicion of international cooperation has continued to hamper our standing and effectiveness in the world.

The debate that preceded the Iraq war in early 2003 focused on the question of whether the United States should make concessions to world opinion or pursue its perceived national security interests unencumbered by the constraints of the international community. But this was a false choice. National security decision-making can rarely be separated from the constraints of the international community, if only because our resources and influence are finite. Our security depends not on clever decision-making about when to go it alone, but on careful maintenance of our relations with other countries that ensures the international community will be with us in a crisis.

 

Obviously, the Israel/Palestine conflict needs to be addressed. However, I challenge you to find a more thoughtful, substantive speech on terrorism by any member of Congress or the Administration.