Bloggers of various political stripes talk about a key election issue: terrorism and national security. OTIS HART moderates the third installment of a weekly series.
(AP Illustration/Jacky Myint)
Judd Legum, research director at the Center for American Progress and the editor of ThinkProgress.org. (AP Photo/HO/American Progress)
Edward Morrissey of the conservative blog Captain's Quarters. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Captain's Quarters)
Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of the Libertarian journal magazine Reason and blogger at Hit and Run. (AP Photo/HO/Courtesy of Reason)
President Bush signed a bill this week setting new standards for interrogating and prosecuting terror suspects. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
North Korea's Kim Jong Il: What's his role in the war on terror? (AP Photo/Korea Central News Agency via Korea News Service)
How will the war on terror affect the battle for control on Capitol Hill?
asap has brought together the voices of three bloggers from across the political spectrum, giving them an opportunity to sound off, in an IM chat, on a major election issue each Thursday until Election Day.
This week's topic: the role of national security and terrorism in campaign 2006.
The participants:
-- Judd Legum, editor of ThinkProgress.org, a progressive blog run by the Center for American Progress in Washington.
-- Edward Morrissey, who runs the conservative Captain's Quarters blog.
-- Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of the libertarian journal Reason and blogger on the publication's blog, Hit and Run.
Also take a look at asap's previous bloggers-on-the-issues IM chats:
-- Oct. 12: Immigration
-- Oct. 5: Ethics
Note from the editor: In some cases, comments that participants sent at the same time have been reordered to make more logical sense. Also note that capitalization and punctuation of the original chat have been preserved. And in order to preserve the participants' privacy, their screen names have been replaced with ... their actual names.
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asap: Are Americans safer from terrorism today than they were five years ago?
Edward Morrissey: I believe so, and the lack of another attack testifies to that ...
Edward Morrissey: but that's not the complete question -- what exactly has made us safer?
Nick Gillespie: i don't think we're safer.
Nick Gillespie: by ed's reasoning -- that there's been no attack in the past five years -- we were safer right up to the moment before 9/11.
Nick Gillespie: i might say that we don't know -- can't know on some level -- if we're safer.
Nick Gillespie: however, there's no doubt that all americans have a heightened awareness of terrorism. though that probably won't stop actual attacks. that requires the concerted efforts of intelligence...
Nick Gillespie: community types.
Judd Legum: Absolutely not...
Judd Legum: We are absolutely not safer -- there are many times more terrorist attacks now than there were pre-9/11...
Judd Legum: North Korea is testing nuclear weapons...
Judd Legum: Iran is developing nuclear weapons...
Judd Legum: the American military is bogged down in Iraq...
Judd Legum: but don't listen to me, Foreign Policy magazine did a study of more than 100 foreign policy experts (equal balance of right and left) and 86 percent said we are in more danger now...
Judd Legum: the world is becoming less safe.
"We are absolutely not safer -- there are many times more terrorist attacks now than there were pre-9/11. North Korea is testing nuclear weapons. Iran is developing nuclear weapons. The American military is bogged down in Iraq."
-- Judd Legum
Edward Morrissey: Nick -- we had the USS Cole 11 months before that, the African embassies two years before that, and so on. That pattern has ended ...
Edward Morrissey: Judd, I was more focused specifically on non-state terrorism ...
Edward Morrissey: We have to look to see what tactics/techniques have ended that pattern and which have not to continue that success.
Nick Gillespie: what pattern has ended? our troops in the middle east are being actively killed far more than they were back then.
Judd Legum: North Korea or Iran could provide nuclear weapons to terrorist organizations, as Bush frequently reminds us.
Nick Gillespie: i agree with ohio state's john mueller that al qaeda likely shot its wad with 9/11 and is highly diminished. but that's not the end of terrorism.
asap: Do you worry about America's image on the world stage and do you think it has an impact on national security?
Nick Gillespie: i worry about america's image a lot -- though not just in terms of military intervention and occupation.
Nick Gillespie: the u.s. pushes a moral image of itself that is routinely at odds with its actual policies regarding, for instance, trade, especially when it comes to agricultural products.
Nick Gillespie: like much of the developed world, we're hypocrites when it comes to subsidizing crops that poorer countries might compete in
"I'd hope we all remain concerned about our image abroad, and that gets into a number of different issues. Do we really support freedom and open markets? Do we support stabilization? All policies have positive and negative consequences, regardless. We need to remain aware of both."
-- Edward Morrissey
Edward Morrissey: Well, we could open a whole new discussion on free markets and globalization, and I suspect Nick and I would agree on a lot, but that's a bit outside this topic.
Nick Gillespie: in terms of military action, i don't think unilateralism is the key question. i think whether our goals are clear and clearly justified is.
asap: FYI: A new Public Agenda survey says 87 percent of Americans are pretty worried about our image.
Judd Legum: They have good reason to be worried. The problem with unilateralism is that most of today's problems can't be solved unilaterally.
Nick Gillespie: not sure if this is on-topic, but i don't think "they" hate us for our image -- the 9/11 attacks were far more about specific policy decisions and a continuing presence in a particular part of the globe.
Nick Gillespie: we might (and should) argue over whether those policies are legit or not, but that's where the fight is.
Edward Morrissey: I'd hope we all remain concern about our image abroad ...
Edward Morrissey: and that gets into a number of different issues. Do we really support freedom and open markets? Do we support stabilization? ...
Edward Morrissey: All policies have positive and negative consequences, regardless. We need to remain aware of both.
Judd Legum: A big part of it is just the approach you take to dealing with other countries...
Judd Legum: (John) Bolton is a big part of the problem...
Judd Legum: do we view international cooperation as essential or something that we'll take if we can get it...
Judd Legum: we are paying the consequences of the "my way or the highway" approach right now in Iraq.
Nick Gillespie: foreign policy is always going to be a sloppy mess. we'll always deal with rival superpowers -- china, for instance -- differently than, say, north korea. and that will lead to charges of hypocrisy and self-interest.
asap: How do you balance the rights of individuals -- American or otherwise -- with the need for security?
Nick Gillespie: i'm with judge andrew napolitano of fox news on this score: this balance is mostly b.s. Constitutional constraints on law enforcement do not preclude getting the sort of info needed to crack terror cells, etc.
Judd Legum: I agree with Nick and the Judge.
Edward Morrissey: I think we have to carefully consider the effects of security policies on individuals who should be presumed innocent ...
Edward Morrissey: ... and that should be one of the priorities for Congress when they write and pass this legislation.
Nick Gillespie: the law enforcement industry -- and intelligence community too -- will always say they need a freer hand. what they never quite show is how, for instance, going to a judge for a warrant has stopped inquiry.
Judd Legum: The issue of "not connecting the dots" before 9/11 was more a result of not understanding the laws than the laws themselves
Nick Gillespie: one of the most tragic dimensions of the 9/11 attacks is that, in the end, people at the fbi and cia, etc. had information. they didn't act on it. not because of walls between agencies -- because of bad judgment.
asap: How do North Korea's nuclear ambitions tie into the war on terror?
Edward Morrissey: Proliferation -- Kim is an arms dealer, and the threat is that he will start selling nuclear weapons ...
Edward Morrissey: and not just nukes, but anything that will sell.
"North Korea should be treated as a regional problem that China, South Korea, and Japan deal with. They were always the training wheel of the axis of evil.
-- Nick Gillespie
Nick Gillespie: they don't. or they shouldn't. north korea should be treated as a regional problem that china, south korea, and japan deal with. they were always the training wheel of the axis of evil.
Edward Morrissey: LOL, Nick, good one!
Edward Morrissey: They're not having a lot of success in impressing the market ...
Judd Legum: Well, I'm not sure how much discussing things in the context of the "war on terror" makes sense.
Judd Legum: We have a serious threat from al-Qaeda and affiliated networks...and we have a serious threat from nuclear proliferation...and these threats are interconnected...that's how I'd describe it
asap: Last question of the week: Will national security and terrorism issues give either party an advantage on November 7?
Edward Morrissey: I don't think it will be as distinct in this election ...
Edward Morrissey: the public dissatisfaction about Iraq will likely cancel out any GOP advantage on other points.
Nick Gillespie: recent gallup polls are giving dems an advantage on who would deal with terrorism -- about a five point boost over republicans. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-09-poll_x.htm
Nick Gillespie: however, i agree with ed. absent a terror attack (not a discovered "plot," an actual attack) of some magnitude, this won't be super-important in the midterms.
Judd Legum: I think national security and terrorism is the top issue for most people.
Nick Gillespie: security etc is much more important in national elections.
Nick Gillespie: the gop's botch job in iraq hasn't helped them to look tough.
Edward Morrissey: House races are much more likely to focus on economics and ideology. It may have more play in Senate races.
Click here for more of asap's election coverage.
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Otis Hart is an asap reporter based in New York.
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