Bridging The Cultural Divide To Fight Terrorists

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

General David Petraeus
Photo By Michael Ruhl

According to General David Petraeus, an educated American soldier that can bridge the cultural divide with the Muslim world can more effectively fight the War on Terror. This soldier would understand the social context they are operating within, and would understand the broad implications and consequences of military action.

General Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Central Command, discussed U.S. military strategy in the Middle East and South Asia while testifying today before Congress.

“While additional military forces clearly are necessary (in Afghanistan), they will not by themselves be sufficient to achieve our objective,” said the General. America’s objective, he said, is to make sure extremists do not have a haven from which to plan and execute another attack on the level of the 9-11 attacks.

A smarter military can better understand the necessary social infrastructure to facilitate lasting peace within a region. This combined with intelligent military action, international cooperation, the building of infrastructure and a swath of other initiatives will help America secure the region, according to Petraeus. “You cannot kill or capture your way out of an industrial strength insurgency,” the General said.

"We also need to expand just the basic knowledge of Afghanistan among our forces," Petraeus said. He continued that greater knowledge will lead to a "nuanced and granular understanding" that will enable the Army to undertake the kind of sophisticated reconciliation processes in Afghanistan that were important in Iraq.

Congressman Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) agreed that soldiers should be educated, and brought attention to the U.S. Army’s Homestead Program. Dicks said this program involves an Officer taking a year off from active service to live in a country, learn the language, and understand the culture. Retired Army General John Abizaid did a program similar to this. Abizaid was former Commander of U.S. Central Command.

The U.S. Army could not be reached for comment on the current funding of the program, but Dicks expressed concern on the small number of individuals enrolled in it.

The necessary approach to success involves placing security in the hands of the Afghans, Petraeus said, which means helping them collectively realize that the biggest security threat in the region comes from dissident extremist elements within the country, most notably Al-Qaeda. He emphasized that America’s presence in Afghanistan is not permanent, and that Afghanistan’s government and economy must be encouraged by its citizens.

Obama Administration’s ethics are the topic of debate

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

President and CEO of Democracy 21, Fred Wertheimer gave a talk today at the Washington Foreign Media Center to discuss "Ethics in the Obama Administration - Are Washington' Rules Changing?"

According to Democracy 21, they are a non-profit and nonpartisan organization which aims to provide the public with information on campaigns and campaign financing. Democracy 21 wants to ensure campaign financing laws are adhered to and modernized.

Talking specifically about Obama, Wertheimer commented on how the
President had been a a key figure while in the Senate by fighting for ethical reform.

Wertheimer said: “We have a new President who comes from a different culture in terms of his own career with a long track record on government integrity reform issues. In the state where he comes from there are two strands of politicians. There is one strand that creates the scandals, of which have led to four governors being indicted and many other problems. There is another reform strand, that goes back to Senator John Douglas...and now Senator Obama.”

President Obama has a long track record on these issues. It did not start on his first day of office,” Wertheimer added.

However, Wertheimer noted that recent set-backs in Obama’s new administration may have led critics to question the President’s performance on ethic related matters.

Speaking specifically about the Daschle nomination withdrawl, Wertheimer said: “Senator Daschle from my personal experience’s of dealing with him, was a terrific public servant for many years in the Congress and I had during the time I worked with him the highest regard for him. He kind of, was a product of the rules of Washington. This kind of Washington culture, he fell into like others have, and he got caught up in this clash, between what has been a normal Washington culture, which Washington accepts, and a set of circumstances created by Obama’s campaign which led to expectations of a change in this culture. He got caught in the middle of that.”

Wertheimer said: “It is an interesting question, whether Washington can change. What we are seeing here is a potential clash between a culture that has developed in recent decades, in Washington, which is a lobbyist special interest, money and politics culture.”

Campaign 21 is a supporter of the Executive Reform legislation that prohibits former serving members from becoming lobbyist after serving their term. The legislation also tackles, what Wertheimer described as the “reverse revolving door” scenario where lobbyist enter the Executive Branch.