Representative Adam Smith weighed in on Counter-Terrorism Policy.
Rep. Smith summed up Obama's counter-terrorism philosophy: "We must put our resources where the most important fights are; we must identify these and use them wisely."
"Iraq was NOT a wise choice," said Smith. "It was a distraction from Afghanistan, which was the real threat."
Smith said Barack Obama will not shy away from taking direct action. By that, he explained, we need to pay attention to active terror threats. But also we need to be smart about it.
He cited Obama's pragmatism: "If there are things Bush did right (and there are some), we won’t change them." He contrasted this with the widely reported decision of the Bush administration which came in determined to do the opposite of everything predecessor Bill Clinton did.
Smith defined indirect action as stopping insurgencies before they take hold. This has to do with global development. The more developed a region, the less vulnerable it is to insurgencies.
Smith referred to Greg Mortenson's book “Three Cups of Tea,” about his quest to build schools in Afghanistan. "This will not completely stop the spread of violent extremists, but it will curb it," he said.
He talked of human terrain teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, who understand the cultures there. He noted that "where we’ve used them, we’ve gotten villages on our side without firing a shot."
Smith did not go into the difficulty of recruiting and retaining anthropologists to do this work. Presumably, an Obama Administration would address this issue.
Maybe we need a Secretary of Advising Obama about Anthropologists? Or an Anthropology Czar? Tsar?
