[Nettime-nl] The best defence is to give no offense

["felipe rodriquez" <felipe@xs4all.nl>]

The Cato Institute published a report in 1998 under the name 'protecting the
homeland, the best defense is to give no offense. The Cato Institute is a
nonpartisan public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington,
D.C.

The report can be found can be found at
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-306.pdf

In light of the recent attacks in New York, it is an almost prophetic
analysis of USA foreign policy, and its likely effects. It recommended that
the United States should adopt a policy of military restraint.


Here are two paragraphs from the first page:

"A study completed for the U.S. Department of Defense notes that historical
data
show a strong correlation between U.S. involvement in international
situations and terrorist
attacks against the United States. Attacks by terrorist groups could now be
catastrophic for
the American homeland. Terrorists can obtain the technology for weapons of
mass terror
and will have fewer qualms about using them to cause massive casualties. The
assistant
secretary of defense for reserve affairs maintains that such catastrophic
attacks are almost
certain to occur. It will be extremely difficult to deter, prevent, detect,
or mitigate them."

"As a result, even the weakest terrorist group can cause massive destruction
in the
homeland of a superpower. Although the Cold War ended nearly a decade ago,
U.S.
foreign policy has remained on autopilot. The United States continues to
intervene
militarily in conflicts all over the globe that are irrelevant to American
vital interests. To
satisfy what should be the first priority of any security policy--protecting
the homeland and
its people--the United States should adopt a policy of military restraint.
That policy entails
intervening only as a last resort when truly vital interests are at stake.
To paraphrase
Anthony Zinni, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, the United
States should
avoid making enemies but should not be kind to those that arise."


Regards

	Felipe Rodriquez


---
Felipe Rodriquez	http://www.xs4all.nl/~felipe



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