Monday, Aug 01, 2005
The US's new counter-terrorism strategy is still evolving. But former officials say it has its limits, writes Guy Dinmore in Washington
The Bush administration's new, and still evolving, counter-terrorism strategy stems from the conviction that military might alone cannot win the war against religious extremists, nor can the US succeed without traditional allies.
Repairing the transatlantic relationship that was so badly damaged by disagreements over Iraq has been a priority since the second Bush administration took office in January. Officials say it reflects a significant shift in foreign policy under a new team that is predominantly pro-European in outlook and background.
The change in course is also driven by the realisation that the administration is losing American public support for the war in Iraq. Meanwhile, claims that Iraq has become the "central front" in the war on terror and that the world is a safer place as a result are met with growing scepticism.
But former officials say the new strategy has its limits. Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, and Dick Cheney, vice-president, have quashed suggestions that the US should close its detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They have also resisted holding senior figures accountable for abuses both there and at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Likewise with Israel. While Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, is redoubling efforts to move the peace process forward with the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, there will be no fundamental shift in US support for Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister.
While the concept of "moderate Muslim outreach" is broadly accepted, officials say there will be fierce debate over how to deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has two ministers in the country's coalition government, and Hamas, which is becoming a growing political force contesting Palestinian elections, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
Lee Hamilton, vice-chairman of the 9-11 Commission, said the key was to use all tools of American power in a comprehensive integrated strategy, as recommended by the commission a year ago. "There is no silver bullet to defeat the terror movement," Mr Hamilton commented.
"Bush administration rhetoric is improving. Policy is moving in the right direction. They are articulating a new strategy. This is encouraging," he told the Financial Times. "But the Bush administration is not going to accept the proposition that its support of Israel has contributed to the (Islamist) radicalism."
While Tony Blair last week spoke out on tackling the "root causes" of terrorism, fundamental differences of approach remain between the US and its allies. "One of the distinguishing characteristics of this country (the US) is that they think they are at war, and we don't," a British official said. "It is very difficult to persuade people in London, even after the bombings, that there's a war on. This is a big psychological difference."
Muslim groups in the US say a conscious decision by the administration to reach out to moderate Muslims would be both welcome and long overdue. Rabiah Ahmed, of the Council on American Islamic Relations, says its advocacy group has long promoted this. But it had met with little response from the administration. "You have to wonder why. There has been more dialogue in the UK," she said.
However, "Muslim outreach" will now be part of a wider effort with the focus on pushing President George W. Bush's key theme of spreading democracy and freedom, backed by a more concerted public diplomacy effort.
"There has been a lot of discussion about the war on terrorism and whether we have a new lexicon," a senior administration official told reporters last week.
"For us to win the war on terror, we need to co-ordinate all areas of national power, diplomatic, military and communications. We need to confront and defeat the terrorists but we also need to address the sources of desperation.
"We need to make the Middle East inhospitable to the blandishments of terrorism, so we have the democracy and freedom agenda and the fact that the vision of Islam put out by the terrorists is not the right one."
Additional reporting by Edward Alden and Caroline Daniel
By EDWARD ALDEN, CAROLINE DANIEL and GUY DINMORE
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