Superpower Impotence

“Why are we always reacting? Why no pro-action?” asks an irate Capitol Hill intelligence expert, referring to the prolonged TWA hijacking crisis of the last fortnight. “Why haven’t these groups been infiltrated, and I mean deep infiltration?” The problem in brief is: What is the U.S. policy for counterterrorism? Or, does it have a policy? And if no policy, is it because of no intelligence?

The intelligence community agrees on what the elements of such a policy should be: pre-emption, prevention, and reprisal. Pre-emption, or strikes against terrorist groups before they act, has not only had no standing in U.S. policy, it has been actively forsworn. When Israel used U.S.-made F-15s and F-16s in a pre-emptive strike against a nuclear reactor near Baghdad in June 1981, the U.S. voted in favor of a UN Security Council resolution condemning the raid.

JM

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John McLaughlin

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“Why are we always reacting? Why no pro-action?” asks an irate Capitol Hill intelligence expert, referring to the prolonged TWA hijacking crisis of the last fortnight. “Why haven’t these groups been infiltrated, and I mean deep infiltration?” The problem in brief is: What is the U.S. policy for counterterrorism? Or, does it have a policy? And if no policy, is it because of no intelligence?

The intelligence community agrees on what the elements of such a policy should be: pre-emption, prevention, and reprisal. Pre-emption, or strikes against terrorist groups before they act, has not only had no standing in U.S. policy, it has been actively forsworn. When Israel used U.S.-made F-15s and F-16s in a pre-emptive strike against a nuclear reactor near Baghdad in June 1981, the U.S. voted in favor of a UN Security Council resolution condemning the raid.