Nick Smith, August 29, 2004

It is now possible that we’ll be dealing with the threat of Islamist terrorism for fifty years or more. So it is important to decide what were willing to live with in terms of homeland security and what we are not. Although it has received little notice, we are making several long-term adjustments to the terrorist threat. For example, President Bush announced plans to withdraw 60,000 to 70,000 American troops from certain foreign bases on August 16. Some are to come home. Others are to be redeployed to vulnerable areas, including the Middle East and Southeast Asia to the new front of the new war - the war on terror.

The changes are part of strategy to reconfigure the American military to meet our most pressing challenges. The U.S. never adjusted its defense strategy after the Cold War. Tens of thousands of troops, for example, remain in Germany and elsewhere in Western Europe originally to repel Soviet and Warsaw Pact armies that no longer exist. Similarly, we have nearly 40,000 troops in South Korea who serve primarily as a "tripwire" to ensure American involvement should North Korea once again invade. Drawing down some of these forces in order to better meet new challenges is not only prudent, but also overdue.

I have some concerns, however, that with new calls for more security, politicians may very well overreact and overprotect. The easy thing to say and do is that we should make Americans as safe as possible and that no amount of protection is too much. But, it isn’t possible to protect against every possible threat. And if we think only about providing every possible protection, it could be expensive, not only in taxes, but in privacy and inconvenience. That thinking leads to endless searches and reports. Government bureaucracies end up spending and wasting immense sums for very superficial protection. It can also lead to the sort of police and Department of Justice over-zealousness that threatens our freedoms.

We must consider the effect on our civil liberties. Many people have pointed out the potential for excessive suspicion of innocent Muslims and Arabs. The 9/11 Commission has recommended centralizing our intelligence agencies under an official who is independent of the President and Congress. Could these powers be used to spy on the American people? We have to ask these kinds of questions as we move forward with legislation this fall.

Our International Relations Committee met last week, with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission. Congress established that Commission in 2002. Their report provided an excellent understanding of what terrorism is and how it has developed over the last twenty years. Their recommendations for change were dramatic and will be costly to implement. I personally favor making the final decisions after the November election in the hopes of having less politics and more reasoned evaluation as we decide and make legislative changes.

I have no doubt that the historians will look back and say that the effort to fight terrorism changed America. It is our duty to make sure that those changes do not unduly hamper our economy or compromise our country’s freedom and principles.

Congressman Nick Smith, a Republican, represents Michigan's 7th Congressional District, which includes Battle Creek and the counties of Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Calhoun, and Washtenaw in south-central Michigan.