Changing Course Five Years After

It is time to change course. Common sense, not ideological rigidity should guide us. Elements of a new policy are clear.

• Launch a crash drive for energy independence. Free us from our dependence on Persian Gulf oil, and end our support for repressive dictatorships like the Saudi’s that provide resources for Islamist extremism across the world.

• Isolate the terrorists, don’t inflate them. Focus on Bin Laden and the stateless terrorist cells. Isolate them from Muslim nationalism. Revive the global alliance andintelligence cooperation to amplify aggressive pursuit of known terrorists.

• End the occupation of Iraq which is weakening our military, isolating our nation, and generating recruits for al Qaeda throughout the Muslim world.

• Put the Iraqi leaders on notice. We’ve deposed Saddam Hussein, and provided more aid than that given to Europe in the Marshall Plan after World War II. It is time for them to decide between unity, federalism or civil war.

• Provide greater security here at home, implement the 9-11 Commission recommendations, stop cutting funds for first responders secure our ports, and ensure the police, fire and public health forces needed to respond effectively to terrorist attack or natural disaster.

• Make America a source of hope, not of hatred. Spread democracy by example, not by force of arms. Respect and champion human rights and the rule of law.

• Revive our leadership in emerging areas of common security threat – nuclear proliferation, catastrophic climate change, pandemics that threaten the globe.

In the hours after the horrific crime of September 11, 2001, Americans rallied as one and the world stood at our side.

Now, all that has changed. Americans are divided. Allies are alienated. The Muslim world’s fury has increased. Osama bin Laden is still at large. Terrorist acts are up across the world. Afghanistan is a mess. And U.S. troops are mired in an occupation amid a growing civil war in Iraq. We are more isolated, less respected and less safe.

In response, the Bush administration chose not to change course, but to rouse fears—worried more about saving the president's face than serving the nation's security.

It is time to stop fanning fears to cover up failure. It is time to change course.