A Different Approach to Terrorism

Just think where we would be if the Christmas Day terror attach took place as plotted. We now know that intelligence failed. Security failed (before the fact). If it wasn't for the passengers aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, the fast-acting crew and calm pilots, nearly 300 people, many Americans, would be dead and a crippling blow would have been dealt to this country, over eight years after 9/11.

Continuing this scenario, one can imagine how all aviation traffic would have been halted, stranding holiday travelers. The vacationing President would have been rushed back to Washington- a long Air Force One flight crossing a country under attack. In the midst of a holiday, government officials would be summoned to mount a united response- even though they would be spread around the country and the world with no form of transportation to get back to Washington. The Fourth Estate (journalists) would not be working, away from their posts during the hours when their oversight was needed the most, and when the American People would turn to them for perspective.

The nightmare scenario of a nation attacked on the one day when peace and goodwill are celebrated and the normal routine of the country comes to a pause was just minutes away from occurring this Christmas. The threat not only was real-it had materialized. Our country came closer to terrorism than any point since 9/11. The fire was literally lit.

But it didn't happen.

Now, we are left with the aftermath. Not of carnage and unthinkable destruction, but with what could have been and how a nation that fought an eight year war on terrorism now transitions to a similar mindset with a new approach. While the Bush Administration considered the enemy to be all forms and acts of "terror" the Obama Administration narrowed the focus: rebranding the fight a "War against Al-Qaeda."

Do we still take the fight to the enemy instead of fighting them on our shores? (a familiar marching refrain of the war-guided Bush years)? Yes, we do. In fact, we have. President Obama's hallmark speech in Cairo this summer in which he appealed directly to the hearts and minds of youth in the Arab World was is evidence of a new, and different, approach to terrorism.

Instead of waging unnecessary wars against invisible weapons of mass destruction, the Obama Administration understands that we must work with, not against, the Islamic World and, through moderation and diplomacy, recognize the aspects of their societies that the Western World also values. This is not appeasement. This is the holistic long-run view that will ultimately ensure that our world is stable and not on the brink of terror.

This does not mean that we won't dismantle and disrupt terrorists, terror organizations and terror states. We will. Our pre-emptive actions in Yemen (including an air strike on Christmas Eve) and the strong approach advocated on the Sunday Shows yesterday by Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan suggest as much. Our efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan suggest as much. Just last week we suffered the loss of American patriots working in the intelligence community in Afghanistan.

We are on the offense abroad as we are on the defense at home. For all the criticism, Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano was correct when she said that the "system worked." It did. As soon as word came in about a threat to an aircraft, the coordinated interagency response (that did not exist before 9/11), went into effect. Planes in the sky coming from Europe were notified. The TSA adjusted screening techniques before passengers were even finished being questioned. The Situation Room started briefing the President hourly. We should be proud of our response system. Unlike 9/11 and unlike during Hurricane Katrina, (but just like during the H1N1 pandemic), the system here worked.

There are still many questions. We live in very difficult and dangerous times. And we will learn more about the response and the next steps this week. It is clear, however, that, as a country, we are taking a different approach to terrorism.