Change.gov: Obama & the new War on Terror

Here’s a partly digested [...] version of Obama’s newly announced administration policies for the War on Terror– which overall will ‘redouble’ efforts (i.e. budgets) to ensure security, hunt down al qaeda and use ‘tough diplomacy’ with Iran

Change.gov/agenda/homelandsecurity | November 7, 2008

Defeat Terrorism Worldwide

*Find, Disrupt, and Destroy Al Qaeda: Obama will responsibly end the war in Iraq and focus on the right battlefield in Afghanistan. An Obama Administration will work with other nations to strengthen their capacity to eliminate shared enemies.

… improve the American intelligence apparatus by investing in its capacity to collect and analyze information, share information with other agencies and carry out operations to disrupt terrorist operations…

*Prepare the Military to Meet 21st Century Threats: Barack Obama will not hesitate to use military force to take out terrorists who pose a threat to America. …more stealthy, agile, and lethal in its ability to capture or kill terrorists…

*Win the Battle of Ideas: …defeat al Qaeda in what the 9-11 Commission called "the Battle of Ideas" by returning to an American foreign policy consistent with America’s traditional values and by working with moderates within the Islamic world to counter al Qaeda propaganda. Barack Obama will establish a $2 billion Global Education Fund to work to eliminate the global education deficit and offer an alternative to extremist schools.

… partnerships in military, intelligence, law enforcement, financial transactions, border controls, and transportation security… expand our foreign service, and develop the capacity of our civilian aid workers … alongside the military.

…prevent the spread of nuclear weapons capabilities, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.

… prevent terrorists from acquiring a nuclear bomb… stop the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction.

… institutionalize the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a global initiative aimed at stopping shipments of WMDs worldwide.

*Eliminate Iran’s and North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Programs Through Tough, Direct Diplomacy: Barack Obama will use tough diplomacy … to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons

*Strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

… establish a new international nuclear energy architecture - including an international nuclear fuel bank…

… Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to work to ultimately eliminate all nuclear weapons … as called for by George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, William Perry, and Sam Nunn

…Work with Russia to Increase Warning and Decision Time

*Appoint White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security: Barack Obama will appoint a deputy national security advisor to be in charge of coordinating all U.S. programs aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism and weapons proliferation.

Strengthen American Biosecurity

[It was exposed during the 2008 primaries that Obama holds stock in Tamiflu, to be used in case of bird flu outbreak]

Biological weapons pose a serious and increasing national security risk. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work to prevent bioterror attacks

A well-planned, well-rehearsed, and rapidly executed epidemic response can dramatically diminish the consequences of biological attacks…

*Accelerate the Development of New Medicines, Vaccines, and Production Capabilities

… Senator Obama was one of the first legislators to recognize the dangers of a potential avian influenza pandemic … to provide $4 billion in funding to the Centers for Disease Control to combat avian flu…

Protect Our Information Networks

… build a trustworthy and accountable cyber infrastructure that is resilient, protects America’s competitive advantage, and advances our national and homeland security.

…declare the cyber infrastructure a strategic asset and will establish the position of national cyber advisor who will report directly…

Improve Intelligence Capacity and Protect Civil Liberties

… establishing a grant program to support thousands more state and local level intelligence analysts and increasing our capacity to share intelligence across all levels of government.

*Give Real Authority to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board: Created by Congress and recommended by the 9/11 Commission, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board needs to be substantially reformed and empowered to safeguard against an erosion in American civil liberties.

Protect Americans from Terrorist Attacks and Natural Disasters

…allocate our precious homeland security dollars according to risk, not as pork-barrel spending or a form of general revenue sharing…

*Support First Responders [this at least addresses a significant problem with 9/11 first responders, if only in rhetoric]: Barack Obama is committed not only to rolling back the Bush-McCain funding cuts that have affected our first responders - police, firefighters, and emergency medical professionals - but also to increasing federal resources and logistic support to local emergency planning efforts.

…appoint a National Chief Technology Officer…

Protect Critical Infrastructure

*Secure our Chemical Plants: Chemical plants are potential terrorist targets because they are often located near cities, are relatively easy to attack, and contain multi-ton quantities of hazardous chemicals.

… redouble our efforts to determine if the measures implemented since 9/11 are adequately addressing the threats our nation continues to face from airplane-based terrorism. Airline passengers are still not screened against a comprehensive terrorist watch list. Such a list must be developed and used in a way that safeguards passengers’ privacy while ensuring the safety of air travel.

Modernize America’s Aging Infrastructure

… modernizing our electrical grid and upgrading our highway, rail, ports, water, and aviation infrastructure. Obama will establish a Grid Modernization Commission to facilitate adoption of Smart Grid practices to improve efficiency and security of our electricity grid.