Customer Reviews

Finishing Business: Ten Steps to Defeat Global Terror

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First, let me just list the people whose names appear on the back of the book making comments on the the book and/or its author.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, Former National Security Advisor
Brent Scowcroft, Former National Security Advisor
John Lehman, Former Secretary of the Navy
Anthony Zinni, Former Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command
James Woolsey, Former Director of Central Intelligence
John Hamre, Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense.

The theme of the book is far different, far more wide ranging and comprehensive than most of the writing on the subject, far more than television coverage shows, and infinitely more than the gibberish that was the election rhetoric.

The book says that the War on Terror, like our Wars on drugs, poverty, crime and other social ills is so far a war on symptoms, not on a cause. And unless some dramatic changes in the thought processes of those in charge, is likely to be just as ineffective. Dr. Ullman defines the danger as Jihadist Extremism, a polititial ideology just as Bolshevism or Nazism, with a thin veneer of religion that is intent on establishing some form of a fundamentalist state backed by Saudi oil money, with an almost unlimited supply of radical young men from Africa to Indonesia, and potentially with nuclear weapons from the Pakistani arsenal.

To fight such forces will require a fundamental change in the way the United States and the rest of the world addresses the problem. To go on further would require that this review be nearly as long as the book itself. Let me just conclude that this book has the ring of George Kennan, Paul Nitze, Herman Kahn and Henry Kissinger in their early days of defining the danger of the post World War II Soviet Union. The country will ignore this book at its peril.

This book is brilliant in multiple ways. It gives insights to many otherwise puzzling events in the recent past. Unfortunately, perhaps in the rush to get it to press while still topical, the editing is dreadful and makes the book a Murmansk run for the reader.

Example from page 42: "After the terrorist attacks, had Al Gore been president, it is unlikely that he would have had little option except to go after al Qaeda in Afganistan." I read that to mean that he'd have had other options, but who knows?

The flying leaps from topic to topic, often even within a single paragraph lead one either to give up and skim downwind touching only the wavetop highlights or beat to windward through mounting syntactic surf in trying to follow the argument. Ever hear of transitions ? (Usually taught in freshman comp.) The obscure syntax sometimes reads as if English were an almost-mastered second language to Ullman.

As a current member of the Naval Institute and a fan of Ullman's work, I am embarassed by the egregious editing failures of this otherwise outstanding work. The Naval Institute has failed Ullman. His work deserves better.

C-Span2 Book TV has an excellent author event available. The author is very articulate and the book is brilliant. Some of the main points of the book are listed below.

1. We do not understand the danger of terrorism. We are dealing with a political movement with political ambitions. The terrorists are using religion as a cover.

2. Our government needs major reforms. Discipline and accountability has to be a responsibility of government officials.

3. We need to change our focus from national defense to national security. We need to form a national security university.

4. We need better ways to respond globally to the terrorism threat. We need to rejuvenate NATO. NATO now has a global mission.

5. The danger is in the Middle East. The real terrorist threat is to the Middle East, not so much to the USA mainland.

If you were thinking that the War on Terror is going to be over any time soon, Harlan Ullman will quickly disabuse you of that notion. He rightly points out this is actually a War on Jihadist Extremism. Winning that war will require remedying the discontents that feed the extremism, and repositioning the United States government to be better able to do so. Most of the book is a rather dismal catalog of all the reasons for our failures to date. The background is great for those unfamiliar with this area, but sometimes the prose makes the phone book look enticingly entertaining by comparison.

But what are the "10 Steps" promised in the subtitle? They are ambitious, indeed. The first is to stop thinking about a Global War on Terror (remember the wars on drugs and poverty?), and recognize that this is a war against Jihadist Extremism. That makes sense. Next, we must realize that the danger posed by the terrorists is not the buildings they might demolish, but the institutions they threaten to disrupt--like our economic system and our personal freedoms. That, also, is imminently logical. At this point, Dr. Ullman becomes more ambitious. We must also reorganize the White House, Congress, and Defense Department, commit billions and billions to bring the "Crescent of Crisis" into the 21st Century, and force government officials to sign pledges similar to those required by Sarbanes-Oxley so that they can be held responsible for their actions. If Dr. Ullman is correct in all of this, we are in for a truly long haul.

U.S. Army War College's Dale Eikmeier is right on the money as Ullman states in his introduction: "What can and must be done to defeat this grave and gathering danger [radical Islam] is the basis for this book." Sadly, he pulls a literary bait and switch. This work is not, as implied, a formula for defeating radical Islam. Those looking for a serious and scholarly work on combating what Ullman calls "jihadist extremism" will be disappointed by the lack of research and discussion on the ideological foundations and leaders of the movement.

However, political historians may find the first half interesting as it lays out the national security positions of the Democratic Party's 2004 presidential campaign. The chapter on Operation Iraqi Freedom even opens with the Bush-Kerry debate question: "Is America safer or securer as a result." The second half, where Ullman discusses transformation of the U.S. military, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the federal government, makes an original contribution. One of his more intriguing ideas is Sarbanes-Oxley-type reform legislation designed to improve congressional and executive branch accountability. Policymakers concerned with government and defense reform may find some gems here.

Poorly organized, Ullman built a mound of tangents (Gorbachev and perestroika), distortions (hoof and mouth disease and a strike in Britain set D-Day for Operation Iraqi Freedom), factual errors ("Pakistan is both Muslim and Arab"), and partisan political statements ("President Bush must subordinate his visceral dislike for Kim to the larger goal of denuclearizing the [Korean] peninsula permanently"). To find any buried gems, you must dig. In the end the effort isn't worth it. Once you have polished the obscuration away, you'll find that Ullman's formula to defeat radical Islam is the Cold War's containment strategy with "transformed" multinational security organizations, resolution of Kashmir and the Israeli-Palestinian disputes, and a series of what he admits are prohibitively expensive Marshall plans.

I rated this book 5* because even though it spells out 10 steps to Defeat Global Terror,it does an excellent job of detailing the approach that has been going on ever since the end of WWII,in dealing with the enemies of the Western World.
The whole idea of blameing those who are being attacked rather than those who are doing the attacking ,taking the approach that the attacker needs to be understood rather than destroyed,only extends the time,and cost in lives and resources to eliminate it. We saw this clearly with the march of Nazism,Fascism,Japanese Imperialism and Marxism. No amount of money,understanding,appeasement,negotiating,agreements;would ever had any effect in changing the will or intent of these evil powers. It took too long for that to happen,and in the end it was nothing short of a total commitment to destroy them ,that resulted in victory.
The stated object, of total destruction of western civilization, by Islam,attacks throughout Europe,Southwest Asia and America,are nothing short of declarations of war,and no different than we saw during the 1920's and 1930's ;and until they are taken as such;the future will be no different than it was then.
All that is proposed in this book is more of the same thing that has encouraged the enemy to continue on its present path.
This book scapegoats Bush over and over again as if he is the problem. This war by Islam was well underway many years before Bush came to power and will continue long after his Presidency is up.Which,by the way,is less than a year away---then who to blame? How much has been spent to date by the US .Well over $400 Billion. What have most other countries done;other than to critcize America and Bush. The message is quite clear;they would be pleased if the US lost the fight,as would many on the Left and in the media. Their heads are in the sand,if they don't understand these forces are not only out to destroy Bush and America,but themselves as well.
This book proposes huge increases in Bureauracy,American Funds,restructuring of organizations similar to the adage of "Rearranging Deckchairs on the Titanic",huge increases in security,that can never be enough to guarantee total protection,proposing that the UN and NATO will solve the problem,and on and on .
This war that Islam has embarked on must be confronted head on with the destruction of the evils they are intent on subjecting on others,and not a condition that needs to be "understood".

This book follows the thinking of Neville Chamberlain who said;

"In war,whichever side may call itself the victor,there are no
winners but all are losers."

Just imagine if the Nazis,Fascists,Marxists or Imperial Japan had won--
-now imagine if Islam were to triumph.
Where are the leaders today who safeguarded the Liberties and Freedoms
we now enjoy.Here's what they had to say;

"In war there is no subsitute for victory" Dwight D. Eisenhower

"In war there is no second prize for runner-up."General Omar Bradley

"Wars are different from baseball games where,at the end of the
game,the teams get dressed and leave the park." Harry Trumam

"The will to conquer is the first condition of victory." Marshal
Ferdinand Foch

"I say we are going to have peace even if we have to fight for
it."Dwight D Eisenhower

"A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails,and then
asks you not to kill him." Winston Churchill

"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."
Emiliano Zapata

Or in the words of Will Rogers;

"The United States never lost a war or won a conference."

This book sure looks like the way to lose.

This is one of the dumbest books I have ever read though I suggest you read it; only to understand its arguments and the flaws inherent in them. The title of this book is promising: how to defeat global terror, and the book makes several very valid points that are not fully discussed in the popular media. These points include:
1. The real cost of building Iraq into a stable democracy is quite high, and has not been fully fathomed by the Bush Administration.
2. Pakistan is quite dangerous and potentially unstable, with its political scene a couple of assasinations away from chaos.
3. The most dangerous modern day terrorism to confront America are adherents to Islamic fundamentalism primarily from Middle East countries, and the primary target of this fundamentalism is Middle East governments.

That said, this book goes on to list several steps the US must take to defeat global (Islamic) terror. None of them will stop global (Islamic) terrorism, and their listing in this book reveals a biasness to throw more money at the problem. On the other hand, there are several things not listed in this book that do contribute to global terrorism, and should be stopped.

First, the US should stop selling weapons to other countries. What do people do with weapons? They kill each other! What happens when people grow up in an enviroment of killing? They become extremists and resort to killing as part of their daily lives! Look at the countries listed by this book as trouble spots; spots where Islamic fundamentalism is a growing threat; Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc... Each and every single one of them was/is a major buyer of weapons from the US or other western countries such as the UK, France, Germany and Russia/USSR.

These weapons were often sold by Western countries to Muslim countries in exchange for oil. These sales still continue as Saudi Arabia is one of the largest purchasers of American weapons. What do the recipient countries do with their newfound weapons? Several things actually. First, they can point it at their neighbors and try to intimidate each other over issues like trade agreements, water access, border disputes, etc... This is why any diplomat from the Middle East will tell you this area is like a hornet's nest; you stick your hand in there and someone is bound to sting you. Second, they can point it at their own people. Specifically, nearly all of the major purchasers of US weapons are non-democratic.. i.e. the ruling clique in each country uses these weapons to keep their country's population at bay. Both effects; hostile neighbors and a dictatorial government, generate a civil society conducive to terrorism, religious fundamentalism, intolerance, and violence. To stop Islamic jihadism dead in its tracks, this culture needs to be changed, and one way the US can help is to stop selling weapons to these countries AND prevent US corporations from selling weapons to these countries through national legislation and effective regulation. The question then arises: what should the US give to Muslim (Arab) countries in exchange for their oil? Several things come to mind, primarily, the US could allow goods from Arab countries into the US duty-free and tariff-free. This will spur job and economic growth in the Arab countries, and people are generally less likely to go jihading when they are making money.

2. Change the people who represent America abroad in the embassies and various other government agencies. The current Bush administration highlights this problem. If you look at the various ambassadors and other officials G. W. Bush has appointed to these diplomatic offices, you quickly notice that they got these offices out of patronage and not because of their skills and knowledge of these areas. For example, many of our ambassadors to Arab countries are ex-employees of oil corporations whose former employers contributed to Bush's election campaign. I wonder how many of these ambassadors know Arabic, or studied Middle East history, or are familiar with the Israeli - Palestinian issue? None probably. What they do know and what they will do in their government posts is grease the bureacratic wheels for oil companies and their subsidaries doing business in the Middle East. If the USA is really serious about stopping Islamic fundamentalism, then it should appoint individuals to ambassadorships and other offices who won't concern themselves with oil reserves in the Middle East, but instead concern themselves with civil rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, secular education, ect, ect in the Arab countries.

3. Take Arab opinions every bit as seriously as Israel's opinions. Throughout the Cold War Israel expanded gradually by taking lands owned by Palestinians, and pushing the natives of them. Time and again, Arab countries and many other non-Arab and non-Muslim countries in the world put forth UN resolutions to condemn Israel. And time and again the US vetoed these resolutions. The message these vetoes sent to private citizens in Arab countries was that their governments are powerless against the US. The result of this is that some Arabs have gone outside their government to help the Palestinians; i.e. form terrorist groups to attack Israel and the US. If the US is to expect Arab governments to control their citizens and stop terrorist groups, the US can help by stop siding with Israel against world opinion in its conflict with Palestinians.

4. Hold up our end of international agreements on security, extradition, weapons inspections, and disarmament. Throughout the Cold War, the US built up a rich web of alliances and treaties with most of the countries of thw world. These treaties and alliances fostered cooperation in tracking and controlling the flow of money and individuals between countries, and limited the spread of many classes of weapons. Some of these treaties also placed US citizens or US businesses overseas under the jurisdiction of foreign laws. Under the current Bush administration, the US has exited many of these treaties, thinking they are too much of an impedance on US security and US business interests. The result is that after 9-11, when American officials wanted to question individuals in other countries; there was minimal legal groundwork through which this could be done, and many other countries were reluctant to help. To really defeat global terror, we need global help, and to get that, America needs to get of the top of the hill and learn to cooperate with other countries as equals.

5. Support birth control and other measures to slow population growth. Religious extremism of any kind is a byproduct of too many people with too few jobs to go around. One way to solve this problem is to support birth control and family planning in third world countries. The current Bush administration will not do this because of their Religious Right supporters, and the previous Clinton administration did not do this due to opposition from the Religious Right. Public citizens in the US starting with the President need to publicly drive home the point to the Religious Right that too many people in poor countries can only lead to trouble for America and Americans.

These five steps I listed above are five things that the US is not doing, and which this book does not include as steps to defeat global terror. But, I believe these steps will go further in defeating global terror than anything said in this book.

Outstanding book with great insights into political options. Extremely timely and highly recommended.