I’ve pulled from my professional
reading list a book by James Jay Carafano and Paul Rosenzweig, published by the
Heritage Foundation © 2005 entitled Winning the Long War, Lessons from the
Cold War for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom. I have to say it is an excellent guide to the
problems we will face with the threats to stability from terrorist groups.
Its discussion and
recommendations are based on the U.S. experiences and national approaches of
the Cold War with the Soviet Union, a different but equally real threat to
national security. What I found most
enlightening was discussion of a document I had not heard of until this
book. In the winter of 1946, George F.
Keenan was an ambitious Foreign Service Officer in the Moscow Embassy. The ambassador was back in the United States,
and it fell to Mr. Keenan to answer daily queries from Washington on things
like why the Soviets were unwilling to participate in new organizations like
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.[i] He wrote what was to become known as "The
Long Telegram" that captured what would become the essence of a blue
print on how America should deal with the Soviet Union on the world stage.
Mr. Kennan laid out the strengths
and vulnerabilities of the Soviet society and his analysis on how to counter-balance
those strengths to assure U.S. survival.
Messrs. Carafano and Rosenzweig believe the last 350 words of this
missive hold the keys to U.S. success and survival on what will be a potential
war without end against terrorists with an increasingly deadly capability at
their finger tips. I would like to take
excerpts from Mr. Keenan’s telegram and with just one simple change show how
relevant his thoughts are for today.
“In summary, we have here a
political force committed fanatically to the belief that with US there can be
no permanent modus vivendi that is
desirable and necessary that the international harmony of our society be
disrupted, our traditional way of live be destroyed, the international
authority of our state be broken, if Soviet [terrorist] power is to be secure.”
“(1) [Terrorist] power, unlike
that of Hitlerite Germany, is neither schematic nor adventunstic. It does not work by fixed plans… Impervious
to logic of reason it is highly sensitive to logic of force…”
“(2) Gauged against Western World
as a whole, [terrorists] are still by far the weaker force. Thus, their success will really depend on
degree of cohesion, firmness and vigor which Western World can muster. And this is factor which is within our power
to influence.
“(3) Success of [a terrorist]
system, as a form of internal power [or global coordination] is not yet finally
proven. It has yet to be demonstrated
that it can survive (the) supreme test of successive transfer of power from one
individual or group to another”
“(4) All [terrorist] propaganda
beyond [their] security sphere is basically negative and destructive. It should be relatively easy to combat it by
an intelligent and really constructive program”
Keenan concludes his telegram
with five recommendations on how the U.S. must deal with the Communist
threat. Those recommendations remain as
valid today as yesterday when confronting any group that seeks the destruction
of a free society.
1) We must recognize the threat for what it is,
and study it with “courage, detachment, objectivity, and same determination not
to be emotionally provoked or unseated by it, with which a doctor studies (an)
unruly and reasonable individual.”
2) The
public must be educated and made aware of the realities that lead to
terrorism. “There is nothing as
dangerous or as terrifying as the unknown.”
3) The
strength of our society in open debate and free trade is critical. “[Terrorism] is like malignant parasite which
feeds only on diseased tissue.” “Every
courageous and incisive measure to solve internal problems in our own society,
to improve self-confidence, discipline, morale and community spirit in our own
people, is a diplomatic victory…”
4) “We must formulate and put forward for other
nations a much more positive and constructive picture of (the) sort of world we
would like to see than we have put forward in the past.”
5) “Finally
we must have courage and self-confidence to cling to our own methods and
conceptions of human society. After
Al(sic), the greatest danger that can befall us in coping with this problem of
[terrorism], is that we shall allow ourselves to become like those with whom we
are coping."
[i]
Carafano & Rosenzweig, Winning the Long War, Lessons from the Cold War
for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom, Heritage Books, Washington,
DC, 2005, p. 2
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