Why The National Security Strategy of the United States of America Will Not Prevent Terrorism

"Defending our Nation against its enemies is the first and fundamental commitment of the Federal Government." (President G.W. Bush, 17 Sept 2002). President Bush has set forth several paths for attaining that commitment of protecting this nation. According to The National Security Strategy of the United States of America (NSS/USA) the United States (US) will:

"champion aspirations for human dignity; strengthen alliances to defeat global terrorism and work to prevent attacks against us and our friends; work with others to defuse regional conflicts; prevent our enemies from threatening us, our allies, and our friends, with weapons of mass destruction; ignite a new era of global economic growth through free markets and free trade; expand the circle of development by opening societies and building the infrastructure of democracy; develop agendas for cooperative action with other main centers of global power; and transform America's national security institutions to meet the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century."

By championing the desire for human dignity, the US is trying to promote human rights. The heart of this democracy beats because it encourages political, social, economic, and religious freedom. Political freedoms will make accessible an open democracy in which all people can be represented equally. The endorsement of social freedoms will give a voice to the citizens. This will serve as a constant reminder that the government is there to serve all of its citizens not just those with monetary influence or military authority. Economic freedom will support cooperation in foreign trade and within a state's own boundaries. It will foster economic growth and increase economic stability of the state, thus allowing for further development. Religious freedom is probably one of the most difficult goals to achieve. It is an ideological difference, and thus it can not be proven wrong by fact alone. For that reason the US must demonstrate how religious freedom can help cultivate a nation's growth and oppress its citizens.

The US will also work with its allied nations to defeat terrorism and prevent any further aggression. The "free-flow of ideas" (NSS/USA) will permit for a global mission to seek out those with terrorist intent towards the US and its allies. The task of eliminating terrorism is a demonstration that it will not be tolerated; the US will sponsor diplomatic alliances to ensure for the peaceful implementation of a friendly government where enemy regimes now reside. This will sanction peaceful interaction in the future by those states.

By working across borders to eliminate weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) the US is promoting diplomatic and nonviolent relations between states. WMDs provide a false sense of power to the holder of the weapon and present a serious threat to national security of the US and other states. By eradicating WMDs the US will grant freedom of fear of an attack by a perceived enemy.

America will support global economic growth through free markets and free trade. This will cultivate reliable relations between the US and foreign states thus making a violent attack or uprising against the US or her allies a difficult undertaking. By attacking, a state might be forced into an economic embargo thus losing the opportunity to trade freely outside of its borders and consequently suffering fiscally.

The US will spur the development of the world's poorest nations by collaborating with other states to work with those states in discovering their productive potential. This will in turn aid the building of the infrastructure of democracy and furthermore allow these third world countries to participate in today's global economy; which concurs with the reason for the previous point.

America had made a promise to work with other global power bases to develop agendas for cooperative action under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The alliance will be strengthened to increase the roll of comparative interstate relations. The US will look towards her allies in NATO for a partnership that will focus on the security of the member states. This coalition is an effort to create a network of anti-terrorist, multi-national military forces to defend the interests of the member states.

The US has also made a commitment to improve national security institutions to meet the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. By increasing technology and further educating personnel, the US has a better chance at seeking out those that threaten the government. Technology development and improvement will allow the US to locate and track terrorist cells and other factions against the government. Personnel education and job enhancement will coincide with technology development in tracing rebel persons that endanger the safety of the nation.

The NSS/USA is a great plan for the American government to keep this nation safe, but it is not what it needs to prevent terrorism. The NSS/USA is a list of plans that should have been in effect previous to the September 11, 2001 attacks. These policies are considered norms to international relations and are nothing special beyond the fact that President Bush has twisted them to sound as if they will make a difference in the relations with terrorist factions. Each point made in the NSS/USA is irrefutable, they are policies that have been proven and will continue to be in the future, but they are not going to change the world quickly or easily. The nation's own symbol of unity is a rhetorical moron who does not know how to develop a serious piece of anti-terrorist policy. In addition, economically, is the US seriously going to promote free-trade? No, it will continue to tax imports to protect its own companies. The US is just as closed to integration as it was before.