Today was not a great day for the war on terror. Hearing these two dueling speeches by the President and former Vice President did not advance our goal of uniting this country in a battle against the terrorists. The problem with former Vice President Dick Cheney's rhetoric is that he is placing America in a no win situation. If there is another terrorist attack--which is widely recognized by law enforcement officials as a very likely possibility--then Dick Cheney and the GOP will say that it was the failure of the Obama Administration to utilize tougher interrogation techniques and to keep Guantanamo Bay open that failed to stop the terrorist act.
Several months ago New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said to me that it is not a question of "if", but a question of "when", as to whether there will be another terrorist attack in this country. I have represented the Lower Manhattan area, including Ground Zero, for the past four years as Chairperson of Community Board 1. For those of us who live blocks away from Ground Zero (which still remains at the top of potential sites for future terrorist acts) the memories of the horrific events of September 11th are both raw and real. Whenever we hear police sirens or see a flurry of activity from the Fire or Police Departments, our hearts beat a little faster. It is precisely this fear that Cheney's remarks play into.
President Obama is in an unenviable position on this national security issue. Today President Obama tried with his soaring speech to bring the war on terror back to core constitutional values that are not subject to the vagaries or whim of politics. He tried to devise sustainable and long lasting standards on interrogation methods to which future administrations will need to adhere. Yet, pragmatically speaking, all those attempts to devise a carefully crafted legal construct for interrogation techniques may be eviscerated--or at least seriously eroded in the eyes of many-- if there is a massive terrorist attack. Grief, fear and emotion will take over.
I felt tremendous unease today watching the two dueling speeches between the President and former Vice President. The country is now being sidelined and divided regarding this deep moral and political chasm over these issues. The focus needs to instead be on galvanizing all of our resources to wage an effective and vigilant battle against terror. With Cheney's decision to engage in an all out attack on the Obama Administration's positions, he is trying to sow seeds of fissure and doubt among the American public. When it comes to people's fear over future attacks, it is hard to underestimate how deep seeded people's anxieties are on this subject.
We civilians are not privy to top level security briefings that a President and Vice President get. If Dick Cheney has true substantive concerns about the direction President Obama is taking the country on national security issues, he should meet privately with the President and address those concerns. To wage a full on frontal public battle on these issues only serves to further inflame people's concerns and to distract this country from a unified response on the war on terror.