In the days since the botched Christmas bombing, a political firestorm has erupted (again) over our national response to Islamic terrorism. <\/p>\n
Post 9\/11, the Bush Administration put the country on sort of half of a war footing, organizing two invasions and occupations, setting up secret detention camps, but also cutting taxes and encouraging Americans to get out there and shop.<\/p>\n
After Barack Obama’s inauguration, the Democrats distanced themselves subtly from the “war” metaphor, embracing law-enforcement, intelligence, and judicial strategies for crippling jihadist groups.<\/p>\n
But Mr. Obama also backed a major escalation of the war in Afghanistan. <\/p>\n
So what gives? Are we at war? Is that a useful mindset for dealing with a largely disparate and cellular threat that transcends national boundaries, cultures, and ethnic groups?<\/p>\n
It’s clear now that the “post-911” worldview embraced by conservatives has led us into as many blunders as successes. <\/p>\n
The Iraq War turns out to have been a distraction from the real Al Quaeda threat, which was germinating in places like Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and London’s East End.<\/p>\n
And despite all the boots on the ground and drones in the sky, we still haven’t nabbed Osama bin Laden. <\/p>\n
This is a debate that deserves serious and fairly rigorous treatment. Instead, we’re likely to get<\/p>\n
The dismaying part is that this attack is likely to spark a political scrum, rather than trigger concrete and productive decision-making.<\/p>\n
Republicans are already accusing Democrats of being “soft” on terror. <\/p>\n
But the question now isn’t how to be harder. We’ve done the shock and awe thing for a decade and we’re still deeply vulnerable.<\/p>\n
The question is how to be more ruthless and efficient at gathering intelligence and putting it to use against our enemies.<\/p>\n
This is one of those moments when the fresh thinking promised by Mr. Obama during the 2008 campaign would be deeply welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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