Global approach to terrorism

Terrorism and the annihilation of civilian populations are as old as recorded history. What is new is the technological evolution of weapons that place enormous destructive power in the hands of a few people. The resulting “mega-terrorism” can inflict a level of pain, destruction and economic loss that is not only unacceptable, it is unbearable, in the sense that frequent repetition of acts such as Sept. 11 would threaten the fabric of our society and way of life.

Clearly, the only acceptable solution to mega-terrorism is to prevent it. But how can mega-terrorism be prevented when the terrorists have the ability to choose how, when, where and what to attack? Uncertainty, surprise and global scope are realities of the terrorist problem. Let us consider options for confronting this problem.

Countermeasures against terrorism include deterrence, detection, interdiction, response and punishment. The United States is pursuing each of these measures in its war on terrorism and each is needed. However, the advantage of choosing the time, place and manner of attack makes detection and interdiction uncertain. The threat of punishment may not deter terrorists’ attacks, particularly if they are suicidal. Lastly, because of the global scope of terrorism, it is unlikely that the United States can by itself prevent terrorism against its interests throughout the world. Thus, it is far from certain that U.S. countermeasures will suffice to prevent terrorism.

The terrorists’ motivation, means and opportunity are additional key factors that must also be addressed. By reducing these factors sufficiently, terrorism can be prevented and the problem will cease to exist – the ultimate long-term solution. We could approach that solution in the near term by reducing the terrorists’ motivation, means and opportunity as much as possible, by rigorously applying the countermeasures mentioned above, and by doing all of this through global cooperation.

To achieve this end, I suggest that a global strategy is required, not a U.S. global strategy, but rather a global strategy developed by people from around the world, since all people would have a stake in its implementation and outcome. All aspects of the problem should be addressed in order to achieve the best possible chance for success. Therefore, the strategy should address deterrence, detection, interdiction, response and punishment as well as terrorists’ motivation, means and opportunity.

Those who would carry out the global strategy should participate in its formulation in order to achieve a practical, workable result. Detection, interdiction and punishment of terrorists are largely intelligence and law enforcement functions. Thus, working police officers, intelligence and criminal prosecution personnel from around the world at both local and national levels should be involved.

Response to terrorist acts involves emergency responders and health care personnel. Firemen, police officers, emergency physicians, nurses and emergency managers would need to participate. Addressing terrorists’ motivation, means and opportunity requires additional participants. Terrorists, other than the strictly loan actors, relate in meaningful ways to various segments of the world population for moral, financial and operational support. Thus, there is a need for participation from members of the worldwide public.

The importance of this participation cannot be overemphasized. Not only does the public provide motivation and means to terrorists, it also plays a key role in detecting suspicious activities and in denying support and safe havens to terrorists. Any strategy to prevent terrorism that would alienate large sectors of the public would likely result in increased support to terrorists and reduced assistance in preventing terrorism. The support of the worldwide public is therefore critical to achieving a successful strategy to prevent terrorism, so they must participate in formulating the strategy.

This international group of working people from various professions and walks of life would come together as equals in a series of workshops to focus on the problem of preventing terrorism. They would consider the realities of the problem from all aspects, sift through alternatives and develop a rational, honest “peoples” strategy to prevent terrorism. The strategy could then be tested on a small scale and refined to assure its validity. Political leaders could then take the actions needed to implement the strategy. This general problem-solving approach has already been successfully applied to the very complex problems of international treaty verification and emergency response to biological terrorism. It appears well suited to this problem as well.

With a global strategy, U.S. efforts could be conducted in concert with other nations to maximize the collective ability to prevent terrorism. Without a sound global strategy, the United States may well take multibillion-dollar actions that do not solve the problem and may in fact make the problem worse. Developing a global strategy through the approach suggested here could be accomplished for several million dollars.

Return on the investment is potentially billions of dollars and many lives saved by successfully preventing terrorism and by avoiding piecemeal, nonproductive efforts. The human potential to exploit this opportunity exists and needs only to be organized, focused and applied – and supported with private or government funding.

Richard Hutchinson served for 30 years as a civil servant with the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground. He is now retired and lives in Penobscot.