Which Anti-Terrorism Model Do You Like?

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Dr. Cohen is Research Fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Davis International Studies Institute at the Heritage Foundation, working closely with Congressmen, Congressional staff members, three U.S. Administration members, as well as cabinet-level Russian, Eurasian and Eastern and Central European decision makers. He is an SPME Member.

Three anti-terror models emerged over the last week. As world leaders grieve in Madrid over 201 victims of the train bombing, the Pakistanis demonstrate their Keystone Cops qualities, and Israel is taking flak from the Europeans for the targeted killing of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, you be the judge.

The first model is bureaucratic. It has been articulated by Javier Solana, a Spaniard who is European Union foreign policy chief. “Europe is not at war,” Solana said. “We must oppose terrorism energetically, but we must not change our way of life. We are democrats who love freedom.”

His boss, Romano Prodi, EU Commission president said that the answer to fighting terrorism is, among other things, adopting the EU Constitution more quickly. European heads of state are adopting a declaration of solidarity with Spain and a call to jointly fight terrorism and “root causes of terrorism –conflicts, poverty, deprivation and frustration.”

Dominique de Villepin, the French Foreign Minister said that “a hard line security policy does not improve security unless it is complemented by a political strategy.” But two and a half years after 9/11 “political strategy” has not prevented the Madrid massacre.

De Villepin’s answer to fighting terror is also to speed up the transfer of power from the coalition to the United Nations in Iraq. He apparently believes that terrorism will stop after that.

De Villepin’s information about Iraq seems to be deeply flawed. He stated that under Saddam “there was no terrorism in Iraq.” However, Baghdad harbored such terrorists and operations as Ansar Al Islam; Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda branch; Mohammad Abbas, the hijacker of Achille Lauro cruise ship and the murderer of the disabled American Leon Klinghoffer; and Abu Nidal, the 1970s super-terrorist. Saddam’s payments of $20,000 to each Palestinian murder-suicide bomber’s family is certainly terrorism.

The European answer in their “no-war” on terrorism is more bureaucracy: Solana is appointing the Dutchman Gijs de Vries, former State Secretary of the Interior, to become the new EU anti-terrorism coordinator. However, European politicians warned that de Vries will be a “technical man”, not like Tom Ridge” and the new structure will not become “an EU CIA.”

Creating a Europe-wide security service is vital in view of disappearing borders in the EU, the Madrid bombing, and the Greek pleas that Athens is not ready, security-wise, for this year’s Olympics. However, uniting European spooks will be like herding cats. For the rest of this analysis, go to: http://remotefarm.techcentralstation.com/032604A.html

Which Anti-Terrorism Model Do You Like?

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AUTHOR

Ariel Cohen

Ariel Cohen, L.L.B., Ph.D., is a well known Washington-based foreign and security policy expert. His particular expertise lies in the areas of energy security; war on terror; the Middle East, including Turkey and Israel; security; Russia's economic and financial policy; U.S.-Russian relations; Caspian pipeline security; ethnic conflict; and relationships between Russia and the New Independent States (NIS). Dr. Cohen has conducted policy briefings at the White House, advised U.S. Senators and Congressmen, and lectured at the CIA, the State Department, and other government agencies. He produced numerous analyses, which were published in leading journals and newspapers in the U.S. and around the world. He has organized and conducted conferences spanning a broad range of subjects, including international financial institutions' aid to Russia; international organized crime; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other topics.

Cohen is Research Fellow in International Energy Security and Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Davis International Studies Institute at the Heritage Foundation. Cohen manages a successful policy research program on Russia, the New Independent States and Central Europe, working closely with Congressmen and Congressional staff members and cabinet-level Russian, Eurasian and Eastern and Central European decision makers.

Dr. Cohen frequently testifies before committees of the U.S. Congress, including House Foreign Relations, House Armed Services, House Judiciary Committees and the Helsinki Commission. He regularly appears on CNN, NBC, BBC-TV and other major radio and TV networks. Dr. Cohen served as a weekly commentator for Voice of America and United Press International. He writes as a guest columnist for the Washington Post, the Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Journal of Commerce, Harvard International Review, National Review, TechCentralStation, and other journals and magazines in the U.S. and abroad.

Dr. Cohen has contributed numerous book chapters to relevant authors and publishers. He has a chapter based upon his War of Ideas article, first published in Comparative Strategy, 2003, in a forthcoming Heritage Foundation book (2005) on how to win the war on terror. He is also editing a book on Security Shifts in Eurasia after 9/11 (forthcoming, 2005). His book, Russian Imperialism: Development and Crisis, published by Praeger Publishers/Greenwood in hard cover (1996) and paperback (1998) is frequently used in undergraduate and graduate curricula. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, International Institute for Strategic Studies (London) and on the Board of Global Coalition Against Terrorism. He is a member of Editorial Board of Central Asia and the Caucasus (Stockholm). Dr. Cohen has served as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University and in a number of West Coast universities, including Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.


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