The Threats

Posted Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at 3:36 PM

There are of course many analyses of the national security threats we face--real and imagined. One of the most voluminous is the Feb 27, 2008, statement by Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services. It is useful in spite of two facts that undermine its credibility. First, it was part of an effort to support the Bush administration's budget requests; second, and even more troublesome, it was done in the unstated context of what seems to be the military's effort to have more and more influence in non-defense areas.

The general, speaking on behalf of what he called "thousands of collectors, analysts and support personnel...deployed worldwide," presented the DIA assessment of the global strategic environment, trends in Iraq and Afghanistan, the global terrorist threat and other areas of special interest worldwide. Most of his main points may be grouped into four categories.

Weapons of Mass Destruction:

1.	The proliferation of nuclear weapons
2.	Terrorists' efforts to obtain chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear capabilities

Threats from Nations:

1.	Russia's attempts to re-establish military power commensurate with its current economic and political strength
2.	Nations that challenge the dominant military influence of the United States
3.	Ascending and aspiring regional powers
4.	Evolving alliances
5.	Latin America concerns

Threats from Non-States:

1.	Ongoing combat operations
2.	Non-state actors
3.	Non-state actors challenging the dominant military influence of the United States
4.	Ideological conflicts that challenge order in areas of interest to the U.S.

New Threats:

1.	Underground facilities for military assets
2.	Advanced and improvised weapons
3.	Insurgent use of tactics such as kidnappings and suicide attacks
4.	Computer network threats
5.	Access to the Internet and its ability to give real-time and unfiltered information to a worldwide audience

Some of these threats certainly are real. Others are exaggerated or just plain misunderstood, and the alleviation of others has little to do with our national security and defense. We will take a look at each in the next several posts--Berkley Bedell and Jim Frost.

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Berkley Bedell--Retirement from the U.S. Congress in 1987, neither dulled my interest in the well-being of the people of the United States nor my worries about our governance. I began work in 2006 on a book outlining the country's problems and offering solutions. Jim Frost--I share Berkley's concerns and in 2007 began the job of researching, editing and assisting with writing his book. By early 2009, after finally weathering George W. Bush and recognizing how much the past eight wasted years have set the world back, our focus changed. We had seen no meaningful progress in the efforts to stem the threat of nuclear weapons, reverse global warming, preserve natural resources, reduce military spending, fight disease and hunger, improve health care, deal with the increasing gulf between rich people and poor people, establish a workable economic system, or clean up the political process. For us, these three things became self-evident: First, the problems are global; the U.S. cannot by itself control or solve them. Second, the perfect storm of worldwide catastrophe is already upon us; what must be said cannot wait. Third, in seeking solutions, the problems must be put before as many people as possible as quickly as possible. This blog is the result. There will be much more. We invite you to participate.

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