A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Senator Edwards is outlining a new national security strategy that hinges on the creation of a 10,000-person civilian peace corps to stem the tide of terrorism in weak and unstable countries.

Mr. Edwards's plan, which he presented in Manhattan yesterday, comes less than a week after he called President Bush's war on terror a "bumper sticker slogan" and said the current national security strategy has not made America safer.

Despite the criticism those comments are drawing, the Democratic presidential candidate did not back down from his position yesterday and said the president's strategy has undermined the country's long-term safety and led to a worn-out military.

[. . .]

The plan Mr. Edwards presented yesterday -- which he dubbed "A Strategy to Shut Down Terrorists and Stop Terrorism Before It Starts" -- calls for a 10,000-person "Marshall Corps" to deal with issues ranging from worldwide poverty and economic development to clean drinking water and micro-lending. He said investing in those areas would shore up weak nations and help ensure that terrorism does not take root there. That, he said, would allow the country to stop potential terrorists before they even join the ranks.

There are "thousands committed to violence" today, he said, and America needs to use all of its tools to go after them. But he said millions more people are "sitting on the fence" about whether to join those ranks. "We have to offer them a hand to our side instead of a shove to the other side of that fence," he said.

 Mr. Edwards proposed creating a Cabinet-level position to oversee the initiative, which he said would require international allies.
The president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Clifford May, said he was "skeptical" of Mr. Edwards's proposal.

"Humanitarian aid is a good thing. I approve of that. But it doesn't really have much to do with the causes of terrorism," Mr. May said. " Mohamed Atta, the lead terrorist on 9/11, was based in Germany, was well-educated. The causes of terrorism are several, but poverty is not one of them."

Well, thank Heavens someone is willing to point all of that out. Indeed, a great many terrorists have middle class backgrounds and fairly advanced educations. They do not lack for opportunities but are motivated by a combination of religious zealotry and outrage over foreign policy decisions on the part of the United States (which involve innocuous issues like supporting Israel and having troops in the Middle East at the invitation of the Saudi royal family--this latter issue being the original motivation for al Qaeda's campaign against the United States). The touchy-feely diplomacy Edwards advocates will do little to counteract these motivations.

Don't get me wrong: I am as much of a fan of soft power as anyone else. When applied properly, it works wonders. But it is clear that John Edwards doesn't understand the significance of this issue. He denies there is a war on terror despite all of the evidence to the contrary (9/11, anyone?). And to add insult to injury, he proposes a weak plan to put a stop to it. If I didn't know better, I might think that he almost does not want to be President of the United States.