How do you define terrorism? One of many possible definitions is "the illegitimate and deliberate killing of innocent victims as a means to obtain a political objective." Richard K. Betts began his talk on "Problems and Opportunities in Counter-Terrorism," with a discussion of how to define terrorism. Betts, who is the Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, is also director of Columbia's Program in International Security Policy and of the Institute of War and Peace Studies.
Betts cautioned against confusing U.S. power and global primacy with invulnerability. During the talk he often used the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 to illustrate his points. He described Sept. 11 as "strategic judo" when the terrorists used the western technology against the west. He explained that zealots couldn't use conventional weapons so resort to other tactics.
During the question and answer session Betts discussed counter-offensive measures. He said, using the "Somalia Syndrome" to illustrate, that the Taliban underestimated the ferocity of the U.S. response. He thinks the Taliban believed the U.S. would want a quick and easy war and would leave Afghanistan if met with any resistance.
Betts served on the staffs of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1975-1976), the National Security Council (1977), and the Mondale presidential campaign. In the 1990s he was a member of the National Security Advisory Panel of the Director of Central Intelligence and in 1999-2000 he was a commissioner of the National Commission on Terrorism. His books include Soldiers, Statesmen, and Cold War Crises; Surprise Attack; Nuclear Blackmail and Nuclear Balance; The Irony of Vietnam (with Leslie Gelb) and Military Readiness.
The talk was sponsored by Hamilton's Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center.
