NATO: On Terrorism

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In the wake of Sept. 11, 2008, terrorists’ attacks, America was alerted to a new type of threat: a threat so detrimental to domestic security and to our civil liberties that it took immediate action, and retaliated against insurgents in the Middle East.

Today, combating terrorism still remains a high priority in terms of protecting the liberties and freedoms of democratic countries, Richard Prosen, a ranking official at the U.S. Department of State, explained at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies on August 22.

“We see a growing threat of violent terrorism and youth terrorists with extremist viewpoints,” Prosen said. “Our victory must come through offering a democratic path.”

“We are facing an enemy deadlier than we’ve ever faced before, and even deadlier than the one in World War II,” Dr. Peter Huessy, a senior defense consultant at the National Defense University, added.

In light of recent events, and the invasion of Georgia by Russian troops, the North American Treaty Organization (NATO), in an effort to confront insurgents in the south and eastern countries, has taken drastic measures to put an end to nuclear terrorism, whether it be foreign or domestic, Huessy explained.

“In April 2008, NATO added to Alliance counterterrorism tasks cyber defense measures, infrastructure protection, and a comprehensive weapons of mass destruction counterproliferation policy,” Dr. Yonah Alexander said in the same meeting.

Perhaps NATO’s most recent contribution in fighting the war on terrorism was its dedication in pioneering the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan, Alexander, director of the International Center for Terrorism Studies, explained.

“The first ISAF troops were deployed in January 2002, four months after the invasion ousted the Taliban and al-Qaeda,” Alexander said. “With the launch of the ISAF mission, NATO left its originally designated area of operation and accepted the role as an international security provider against the background of a new and globalized security
environment.”

Thus, the ISAF was a venture established by the United Nations Security Council on Dec. 20, 2001, as affirmed by the Bonn Agreement, Alexander noted.

Respectively speaking, Ian Lesser commented that despite NATO’s stance on the War on Terrorism, it still faced ultimate challenges. “I think the key challenge for the U.S. and Europe is a rising China and Russia,” Lesser said. “Russia is now back in the Mediterranean for the first time in 20 years.”

In addressing this point, Huessy admitted that China is suspected of having some involvement in helping to fund terrorism by assisting countries, such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Afghanistan, in developing nuclear weapons. Therefore, he suggested financial tactics to counteract countries suspected of funding terrorism that included strengthening proliferations, prohibiting such countries from investing in capital markets, develop a new energy plan that includes nuclear power and domestic drilling, while making a conscious effort to keep Iran from closing the Persian Gulf.

Concluding, Huessy explained that NATO is expected to re-examine its mission and strategy in Georgia and Iran in 2010.

Irene Warren is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run jointly by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.