Real Solutions for a Safer World
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1. Strengthen the force of law, not the law of force.
2. Abolish nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
3. End the arms trade and military training programs
4. Build good will by increasing foreign aid.
1. Strengthen the force of law, not the law of force.
The attacks of September 11 were a heinous crime. In the past, actions similar to these have been successfully prosecuted in courts of law. These instances provide models of how to approach such massacres without furthering a cycle of violence. International tribunals have indicted and convicted perpetrators of crimes against humanity such as Serbian general Krstic (who was partially responsible for the massacre at Srebrenica in 1995), and perpetrators of the Rwandan massacre. A court was established in the Hague to persecute those responsible for Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. And the US was successful in bringing the perpetrators of the first World Trade Center bombing to trial within our own legal system.
Legal prosecution holds criminals accountable, and punishes the responsible parties, without killing more innocent civilians.
The US must do its part to strengthen international legal systems in order for them to be as effective as possible. This means immediately paying US back dues to the United Nations (UN) and working through the UN to strengthen international laws on terrorism and the means to enforce them. The US should also support the International Criminal Court (ICC) by ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. One-hundred and thirty-nine nations have signed this statute. The ICC will try individuals accused of committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Prosecution of all suspected criminals should be in accordance with international human rights standards.
Internationally, legal prosecution is viewed as a more globally responsible approach to crimes against humanity than military action. Relying on international jurisprudence would have helped to prevent the high levels of anti-American sentiment created by the bombing of Afghanistan. This approach fosters international cooperation through a commitment to and investment in globally agreed upon institutions. It also makes the prosecution of these crimes an international effort, rather than a unilateral one.
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2. Abolish nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.The only way to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used, by terrorists or nations, is to abolish them. The use of a nuclear device in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon would have multiplied the casualties to hundreds of thousands.
In order to limit the threat of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, the US must ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (which has already been ratified by 89 nations), halt its Star Wars plans, and re-affirm rather than withdraw from the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty to prevent the instigation of a new arms race. The US must also support the Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions and stop obstructing enforcement of the biological weapons treaty .
Of great concern is the security of nuclear weapons material worldwide. The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed over 346 cases of trafficking of nuclear weapons materials. Some reports indicate that as many as 84 suitcase-size Russian nuclear bombs are unaccounted for. The United States should work with Russia and other nuclear nations to heighten control of nuclear materials. To do so the US must increase funding for the Nunn-Lugar program which is a joint US-Russian program to reduce the threat posed by the legacy of the Soviet nuclear arsenal and which also addresses biological and chemical weapons.
Also of great concern is the possibility that the US may use nuclear weapons in a military action. The Defense Department recommended to President Bush the use of tactical nuclear weapons as a military option on September 19, 2001. On the ABC television program "This Week." in September 2001, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the War on Terrorism.
The United States must take immediate responsibility for drastically reducing its own arsenal and halt research and development of new nuclear weapons. The only way for the world to move past the Cold War relic of Mutually Assured Destruction is for the country with the largest nuclear arsenal to take the lead.
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3. End the arms trade and military training programs.The number of small arms currently in use around the globe is near 500 million. According to Human Rights Watch, small arms have been the only weapons used in 46 out of 49 wars since 1990 and have killed three million civilians since that year.
The level of arms currently in circulation has greatly surpassed any reasonable standards of the defense needs of governments and in many cases the availability of small arms is fueling local conflicts. The arms trade makes weapons more available to terrorists, drug traffickers and other violent factions around the planet.
The US is the planet's number one arms dealer. Lax restrictions in US arms sales have created, what is called, the boomerang effect -- American soldiers find themselves facing enemies armed with weapons made in the USA.
An important way of restricting the availability of conventional weapons is through an arms transfers Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is a strict set of arms export criteria that provides governments with a more responsible framework for arms export decisions. A Code of Conduct would prevent states from exporting weapons or providing military aid to countries that are undemocratic, that don't respect human rights, that are engaged in armed aggression towards their own citizens or other countries, and that do not fully participate in the UN Register of Conventional Arms. The European Union has already adopted its own code of conduct, and Nobel laureates have launched a campaign for a code that would be international in scope.
US military training has also become a concern for global and regional security. The US maintains a number of military training programs for foreign nationals. The most famous of these is the U.S. Army's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC), formerly called the School of the Americas, based at Fort Benning, Georgia. Graduates of the school have become infamous human rights abusers. Training manuals used at the school included instruction in torture and other abusive techniques.
In addition, the US is responsible for training and arming the likes of Saddam Hussein, Manuel Noreiga, and Osama bin Laden. This kind of military training must be stopped if we are to prevent situations in which we find ourselves fighting against the very people we helped to create.
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4. Build good will by increasing foreign aid.The U.S. must work toward eliminating the conditions that sustain terrorism. Even from a purely national perspective, it is in our best interest to provide substantial aid to developing nations and enact policies that promote human rights.
This is particularly true for already volatile areas like Iraq, where lifting economic sanctions --which have caused the deaths of over a million Iraqi civilians -- will create stability. We must also work toward an equitable peace between Israel and Palestine, withdrawing our military support of Israel, decrying violence on both sides, and supporting a negotiated settlement, under UN guidelines, with a self-determined Palestinian state.
Widespread starvation and political powerlessness add to global insecurity -- terrorist organizations flourish in the barren soil of human desperation. The months of bombing in Afghanistan, now estimated to have killed over 4,000 civilians, only fueled further anti-Americanism.The US is the wealthiest nation in the world, but contributes less foreign aid per capita than any other developed nation. The Marshall Plan, in which we rebuilt the economies of our former foes, is universally recognized as one of our greatest foreign policy successes.
Strong humanitarian efforts, including food and medical assistance as well as other aid, will demonstrate America's commitment to peace and prosperity for all nations. Far from giving in to terrorist demands, we will be undermining their power by facilitating real stability.
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