The Growing Gap in Terrorism Perceptions

By Michael Kraft

As memories of 9-11 fade, the Bush Administration must manage the �growing gap� between the U.S. and other countries perceptions of the threat that terrorism poses, a bi-partisan blue ribbon panel of Washington foreign policy experts cautioned today. The comments were made in a Presidential Study Group presentation titled �Security Reform and Peace, The Three Pillars of U.S. Strategy in the Middle East� released today by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The group was chaired by the institute�s Robert Satloff and Dennis Ross, the former Mideast Peace negotiator. The 37 members include a range of former government officials including those who worked on terrorism issues: Randy Beers and Daniel Benjamin (at NSC) and David Aufhauser (Treasury) and our Contributing Expert Matthew Levitt (FBI).

The 68-page report discussed security issues such as Iran�s nuclear threat, Iraq, Syria, reform issues including democracy and public diplomacy, and Israeli-Palestinian relations. In a section titled �Improving Tactics in the War on Terror,� the study said many other countries have responded to the terrorism threat since 9/11 and �their efforts serve as force multipliers in the battle against radical Islamist terror; they are deserving of praise and support by the United States.�

But the report cautioned, �As time passes, however, the memory of September 11 will not retain the same urgency and uniqueness for others as it does for Americans. For Washington, managing this growing gap in perception�and the differences in political and policy priorities that flow from it�will be an increasingly important concern.�

The study suggest that focusing on countering terrorism financing is an excellent vehicle to advance international cooperation because is not as ideological as other issues. �Past history has highlighted the success of a �naming and shaming� strategy against terror financiers and facilitators; it should be applied to other logistical cogs in the terror cycle.�

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