Adapt, Change Or Die: The Sept. 11 Proposals Are Just a Start

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

By Tim Roemer, Washington Post

January 9, 2007

As our republic enters 2007, Washington is still primarily organized to prevail in the Cold War against the former Soviet Union. Yet today, America and the community of democracies face very different threats -- evolving terrorism, global warming and energy supply disruptions. Recognizing this, the new Democratic leadership has pledged to pass all of the remaining recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission this week, in the first "100 hours" of the 110th Congress. This is essential -- yet it is only a first step.

The Sept. 11 commission recommended 41 reforms; roughly half of those have been implemented. These reforms represent the most basic fixes to the vulnerabilities exploited by al-Qaeda more than five years ago. A terrorist attack or natural disaster could wreak as much damage and confusion today as happened on Sept. 11 or during Hurricane Katrina. Our executive and legislative branches need to finish the job.

As Congress gets to work, it must legislate first and oversee second. Communications spectrum needs to be transferred to our first responders, and interoperable, survivable networks need to be established. Fissile materials must be decommissioned, secured and inventoried around the world, accelerating the timetable of measures such as the Nunn-Lugar program. Homeland security funding must be allocated on the basis of objective criteria. Emergency response plans must be put in place by states and localities -- and they must be practiced regularly. But congressional committees preparing to use their investigative powers cannot point their fingers at other federal shortcomings without fixing their own dysfunctional oversight system.

Once Congress does its legislative work, members must turn to overseeing the executive branch. FBI reform has been far too slow. Information sharing among government agencies is still lagging. Airplane baggage and cargo, incredibly, are still largely unscreened. Passenger screening against a comprehensive terrorism watch list still eludes the Transportation Security Administration. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board needs independent, strong powers to protect the foundations of our democracy. And our foreign policy must support effective public diplomacy, ensuring that our actions and words win the battle for hearts and minds and defeat the seductive message of Osama bin Laden.

Even the best congressional oversight cannot overcome the personnel problems plaguing the Bush administration. The resignation of John Negroponte as director of national intelligence is a reminder of how important it is to have the right people stay in the right jobs long enough to build the foundations for change. Instead, we find the Office of the Director of National Intelligence engaged in a game of musical chairs. The critical deputy position under Negroponte has been vacant since Gen. Michael Hayden's departure to the CIA last spring. Instead of the streamlined and steady agency that the Sept. 11 commission recommended, we have tumultuous turnover.

Competent, capable and stable leadership is indispensable. And passing and implementing the Sept. 11 commission reforms would provide an essential foundation for our security. But together these fundamentals are no longer sufficient; they will get us only to where we should have been in 2004. The threats facing America in 2007 are different from what our commission addressed when we first convened nearly four years ago.

In the near term, al-Qaeda continues to evolve and adapt. It is utilizing the Internet, motivating more suicide bombers and communicating with millions of people through its TV production unit, al-Sahab. Al-Qaeda is spreading around the globe and popping up in self-generated cells in London, Madrid and Bali. Its shadow is looming in Europe.

The bigger picture is even more unsettling. Our ground forces are tied down in the asymmetrical Iraq war, yet most federal agencies and congressional committees are structured to fight the Cold War. We are backsliding in Afghanistan as well as losing ground in the broader Middle East. Global warming is an undeniable transnational threat, trade imbalances are staggering and our energy supply is tenuous.

It will take tough, bipartisan work to compose a comprehensive strategy to address these converging threats.

That requires a positive, long-term vision founded on a sustainable global economy, an expanding community of democracies and a sharing of the global security burden. Harry Truman, with diplomat George F. Kennan's help, launched a strategy that would contain the Soviets with our military and our allies but would defeat them with our economic opportunity and freedom.

America needs to change now as much as it did after World War II, embracing government's vital role and reorganizing government to execute and oversee a new global strategy. The alternative is too dire to contemplate.

The writer, president of the Center for National Policy, was a member of the Sept. 11 commission and is a former member of the House intelligence committee from Indiana.

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