On Day one the next president should do 3 things. 1.)Begin to extricate troups from Iraq and allow displaced Iraquis to go home. 2.)He should begin immediately an international effort to acheive peace in the middle east. 3.)He should also launch a multi lateral partership to address war, terrorism and poverty.
We're the most innovative country in the world. We can stop funding terrorists and dictators; increase our national security; attack global warming; reduce the costs of defense; revive and distribute prosperity; protect and preserve our natural resources and environment; increase our quality of life; and re-emerge as the model and leader for the world. Under Kennedy we went to the moon in ten years. We can do it again. Aim 300 million Americans at energy independence, and watch what happens.
The sequelae of anthropogenic global warming(AGW) are occurring at a rate faster than the IPCC predictions, and the Pentagon (not exactly a bunch of hippie liberal environmentalist) recognized the dire consequences of AGW on the US and its contribution to the rise of terrorism. They stated in 2003 "...recent evidence suggests the possibility that a more dire climate scenario may actually be unfolding." Famine, pestilence, economic collapse, and terrorism will follow AGW like night follows day.
Framing the fight against terrorism as a war, though politically effective, was a huge mistake from the start. If combatting terrorism were seen as criminal, it could be dealt with as international police and intelligence matter. Then it would not matter if a state was not involved. Differences in the kinds of terrorism could be addressed, making action against the terrorism much more effective because calibrated. No single nation could claim all the answers and cooperation would be easier.
