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J Street Conference in D.C.

Monday, November 9th, 2009
EI's Janessa Gans with Congressman Wally Herger (CA)

EI's Janessa Gans with Congressman Wally Herger (CA)

A couple weeks ago, I attended the first national conference of J Street, the new moderate voice–pro-Israel, pro-peace, on the Israel debate that has exploded on to the scene, to the elation of some and the chagrin of others, (namely, AIPAC.)  They had two plus full days of notable speakers, including Jim Jones, National Security Adviser, and a whole host of Israeli and Palestinian speakers.  The third day over 700 of us lobbied on the hill on behalf of strong American leadership to exert pressure on Israelis and Palestinians, (acknowledging that they will not do so on their own), to forge a solution–a final solution, that is–sooner rather than later.  I got to meet with the Congressman Wally Herger, (R-CA) of my hometown, Redding.  After my mom (another huge fan of J Street!) and I thanked him for nominating my brother to the Naval Academy so many years ago, tried to impress upon him that he has constituents heavily invested and involved in the Middle East, and the importance of a voice like J Street.  He wanted to know the differences between J Street and AIPAC, acknowledging that AIPAC “comes in here all the time”.  Would that J Street could be as big a player!

Interestingly, Tom Friedman today came out with an op-ed that suggests to do the exact opposite of what we were lobbying the Hill to do.  Friedman maintains that the U.S. wants the peace process to continue more than they do, and we should back off and go home.

I met a fascinating guy, Byron DeLear, who happened to be from St. Louis, had attended the Principia Upper School, and with whom I shared some acquaintances.  (I taught the past couple years at Principia College…)  His wife, Rebecca Tobias, works for United Religions Initiatives, a groundbreaking, interfaith institution. Byron writes a column for examiner.com, and has put together the best wrap-up of the conference of any I’ve read.  Check it out here!

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Debating Controversial Topics in the Mid-East

Monday, September 21st, 2009

CSMonitor article “Across the Middle East, what would never happen in polite company now appears on broadcasts of The Doha Debates – discussion of controversy.”  Check out this recent article from the CSMonitor, to which a student alerted me. I’m a huge fan of debating.  I ran debates for many of my classes at Principia, and my students found they were helpful in teaching the skills and art of vocal persuasion. How wonderful to think of this catching on in the Middle East, especially around the topic of off-limits and taboo topics. It would be so much better for a discussion to end up in new levels of meaning rather than violence.  Heck, we should be expanding its use in the U.S. as well, as a way to bring back wit, civility, logic, and background into the public debate!

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Letter from Baghdad on September 11, 2004

Friday, September 11th, 2009

In thinking about today and its significance, I thought I’d share a letter I wrote to friends and family from my post in Baghdad on September 11, 2004.  Thanks for reading and sharing your comments.  Wishing you all a blessed day…

September 11, 2004

I know a man here in Baghdad who is from New York and who lost 61 people from his neighborhood on September 11, 2001.  I asked him how he felt today.  He recounted that after 9/11, he went up to New York from Florida (where he was living at the time) to support his friends and their families, the guys from his neighborhood, many of whom, being firemen and policemen, were part of the unfolding events of that day.  He told me with tears in his eyes that they told him when they pulled up to the World Trade Center that they all knew that some of them would die that day; yet they did not question for a moment going in.  They went into those buildings, helped the disabled and the elderly and, with a joke and a smile, said, “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.”  He commented that it surprised him that the country and the world marveled at what they called heroism during these circumstances.  They didn’t consider themselves heroes; it was just what you do.  This was how they were raised:  duty, honor, and loyalty were everything.  This man told me no question 9/11 and those guys are the reason he is here today risking his own life in Iraq.

I so appreciate the reminder that acting with honor, risking everything, loyalty, and duty to God and our fellow man are not supernatural acts of heroism, but are just what you do, what God made us capable of doing.  I am grateful to be reminded that no loss can occur from such action, since we can’t really lose anything when we are doing what God would have us do.  I am constantly in awe, inspired, and humbled by the tremendous acts of courage, commitment, and love that I see daily here on all sides, Iraqi, American, European, etc.  I start the day greeting the gurkas that protect our compound day and night, which must be a terribly boring duty just to check badges and stand guard.  These gurkas who are so mild-mannered, polite, and cheery, but who are highly trained killers. (A Marine who tried to test the resolve of one of the gurkas by creeping up behind him almost had his throat slit in an instant.) I then make it to the Embassy where more than half of the political officers are married with kids at home — both women and men — who volunteered to serve in a war zone away from their family, work ridiculous hours and live in cramped conditions.  Although many express cynicism at times, I have not found one person who does not believe that he can make a difference here and who does not admit that that is truly why he is here.  I am fortunate to spend all day with Iraqis from all backgrounds, faiths, and experiences, ranging from returning expatriates who had fled Saddam’s regime and lived comfortable lives abroad but who returned to deplorable and dangerous conditions just to help rebuild their country, and others who stayed and endured the full brutality and hardships of the Baathist regime.  I am moved by not only the stories of their past and what they have endured but their unwavering commitment, grace, and hope for the future in the face of situations and conditions that do not seem to be improving.

Every day is 9/11 here.  Every day we are looking up at that World Trade Center, knowing that someone may die today, but it is just what you do.  You smile at the gurka, say “hooah” to the Marine, march up Saddam’s palace’s crumbled steps, throw on your body armor and helmet, and face the day.

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Terrorism Expert Tom Quiggin Debunks Myths

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

A couple nights ago at Principia College, I got to introduce Tom Quiggin, a Canadian expert on jihadism, who gave the best talk on terrorism I’ve ever heard.  This is actually saying a lot given the countless briefings and talks I’ve heard on the topic.  Most speakers either oversimplify the problem or they get stuck in the weeds with enormous detail.  Tom has found “the simplicity on the other side of complexity,” and was able to combine big-picture sense with detailed evidence of the terrorism phenomenon.  The audience was captivated the entire time, even though Tom spoke quickly and shared detailed information on a wide range of groups, networks, problems, trends, and solutions.

His talk was entitled, “Terrorism:  From Fear to Knowledge and Solutions.”  And he definitely delivered on it–leaving the audience with a feeling of hope and empowerment.  The guy was nice enough to stay two more hours to take questions, and then drove an hour the next morning back to campus to speak to two of my Summer Session classes on “Rising Religious Fundamentalism” and “America’s Role in a Globalized World.”

Tom debunked many myths on terrorism, i.e. “No, suicide bombing is NOT sanctioned by Islam.”  And “Guess what?  Major terrorists largely come from good backgrounds:  educated, middle class, non-religious (or religious in name only) families.”  He also gave an over view of al Qa’ida’s decline over the past few years, and the importance of the DIME approach to combating terrorism:  Diplomacy, Intelligence, Military, Economics.  He said the military should only constitute about 7 percent of that equation, since terrorism is a political ideology and has to be defeated with ideas, not just with military might.

He also raised the important point that terrorists’ key aim is to intimidate the public and to instill fear in their minds.  So, if we don’t respond with fear, then their objective has failed.  Tom reinforced how vigilant we should be in not allowing that fear to take over our thinking or our society.  I found that to be an extremely helpful and important point!

Here is a very incomplete bio.

Tom Quiggin is a 20 year veteran of the intelligence world and has worked in an intelligence capacity for a number of agencies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the International War Crimes Tribunal, the Privy Council Office, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the UN and the Canadian Armed Forces. He is also a court qualified expert on jihadism. His area of expertise as noted by the Court in 2005 was the “Structure, organization and evolution of the global jihadist movement.” He has a recently completed sole author book on national security intelligence requirements (Seeing the Invisible: National Security Intelligence in an Uncertain World, Feb 2007). He has also written numerous book chapters and articles on security, intelligence and terrorism in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, The USA, Singapore and Canada. He is currently an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU, Singapore.

I wish Tom were on the news every night or in Washington briefing our experts on terrorism.  But perhaps even more so, I hope he’ll go on the road and take his exciting and informative briefing to the masses, who would learn so much from what he has to say.  He’s able to see connections in a broader and deeper way, given his varied and diverse background in so many fields and regions.  He’s an invaluable asset to our struggle to combat terrorism in the most effective manner.  Spread the word!

Here’s a short write-up about a similar talk he gave…expert184207.html

Best to all…

Janessa

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Memorial Day – Remembering Andrew Bacevich Jr. and Supporting our Soldiers

Monday, May 25th, 2009

On this Memorial Day, it seems appropriate to highlight the example of Andrew J. Bacevich, the author of a fascinating book, The Limits of Power:  The End of American Exceptionalism. Bacevich lost his son, Andrew Bacevich Jr.  in Iraq, but shies away from discussing the issue.  He did talk about it briefly with Bill Moyers last August, in a moving interview, well worth watching in its entirety.  (Bill Moyers\’ interview)

Following Bacevich’s lead, perhaps on this day we can begin thinking of how we can support our soldiers in meaningful ways by becoming truly engaged with our nation’s foreign policy and its actions abroad, not just by placing stickers on our cars.

Here is a brief excerpt:

BILL MOYERS: You say, and this is another one of my highlighted sentences, that “Anyone with a conscience sending soldiers back to Iraq or Afghanistan for multiple combat tours, while the rest of the country chills out, can hardly be seen as an acceptable arrangement. It is unfair. Unjust. And morally corrosive.” And, yet, that’s what we’re doing.

ANDREW BACEVICH: Absolutely. And I think – I don’t want to talk about my son here.

BILL MOYERS: Your son?

ANDREW BACEVICH: Yeah.

BILL MOYERS: You dedicate the book to your son.

ANDREW BACEVICH: Yeah. Well, my son was killed in Iraq. And I don’t want to talk about that, because it’s very personal. But it has long stuck in my craw, this posturing of supporting the troops. I don’t want to insult people.

There are many people who say they support the troops, and they really mean it. But when it comes, really, down to understanding what does it mean to support the troops? It needs to mean more than putting a sticker on the back of your car.

I don’t think we actually support the troops. We the people. What we the people do is we contract out the business of national security to approximately 0.5 percent of the population. About a million and a half people that are on active duty.

And then we really turn away. We don’t want to look when they go back for two or three or four or five combat tours. That’s not supporting the troops. That’s an abdication of civic responsibility. And I do think it – there’s something fundamentally immoral about that.

Again, as I tried to say, I think the global war on terror, as a framework of thinking about policy, is deeply defective. But if one believes in the global war on terror, then why isn’t the country actually supporting it? In a meaningful substantive sense?

Where is the country?

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