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« RMB Report | Main | Poetry » May 30, 2004The Law Enforcement ProblemMany of us warhawk/chickenhawk types have been criticized for disagreeing with John Kerry's stance that the war on terror is primarily a law-enforcement issue. But Europe's experience with law enforcement and terrorism demonstrates why that's not such a great idea. There is a place for law enforcement in fighting terrorism. But that place can't be the primary front, because law enforcement isn't effective at preempting things. Once a terrorist has struck, law enforcement is generally excellent at tracking down the culprits, apprehending them, and ensuring that they can be appropriately punished. While there is a place for this, I think I can get general agreement that we're better off stopping terrorists before they strike, rather than punishing them after the fact. And law enforcement can't do that effectively. Preemption involves the use of intelligence that we can't afford to release. It involves acting with incomplete information. The greater the potential severity of the terrorist attack, the less sure we need to be before we act. If we have reasonable suspicion that a nuclear device is being smuggled into the company, for example, we can't wait to be certain before we act to prevent it. Law enforcement, conversely, has to be sure beyond a reasonable doubt. It therefore cannot be our first line of defense. Posted at May 30, 2004 10:04 PM
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» Mainstreaming leftist lunacy from Classical Values Tracked on June 21, 2004 07:21 AM CommentsI have to disagree not so much with your comment, but with your assessment of Kerry's position. Kerry's position, from 2 interviews that I heard (including meet the press), is that a lot of fighting terrorism, especially underground terrorist cells is a law enforcement style operation. This includes tools such as forensic investigations, infiltration, wiretaps, document analysis, funds flow investigations etc -- in short, very similar to what you'd use for investigating the mafia, although the people here are much more dangerous. The type of covert war we fought in Afghanistan, while necessary, is more of an exception to the rule. As I remember Kerry's statement, he said that once we know where the terrorists are, you send special forces after them. In short, he seems to be suggesting that you use the normal apparatus of investigation and law enforcement to track down terrorists. Posted by: Jon Juzlak at June 2, 2004 02:54 PM Jon, If that's the case, then he's significantly better than I thought. But I think that when you talk about law enforcement, the connotation is normally, well, law enforcement. If that's what he means, he'd do well to be more clear about it. Posted by: Andrew at June 3, 2004 06:17 PM Post a comment |
