Bombing and killing terrorists does not make the world more peaceful. In fact, killing terrorists causes more terrorism, making us less secure. Much to my surprise, even former directors of the CIA agree with this logic.
NPR’s Dave Davies interviewed two filmmakers (Chris Whipple and Jules Naudet) who produced a TV documentary (“Spymasters”). The film features all 12 living former directors of the CIA, discussing difficult decisions made in the fight against terrorism.
The 12 ‘spymasters’ disagree on nearly everything, for example whether ‘enhanced interrogation’ (torture) is legal, ethical, or even useful; but they do agree on one thing: killing terrorists does not contribute to the defeat of terrorism. On the contrary, it helps terrorism grow.
NAUDET: … [All these CIA directors are] … wrestling with the same kind of thing. … [F]or a lot of them, drone strikes are OK, and for others they think, you know, it’s – maybe we’re going too far. Some even want to say, listen, it’s interesting that President Obama has a problem with torture and yet we have no problem with signature strike, which has collateral damage.
DAVIES: All of the directors say – and you have a montage in the film in which they repeatedly say, we can’t kill our way out of this problem, terrorism. That’s one point of agreement, isn’t it?
WHIPPLE: Yeah, it’s fascinating. And, you know, frankly the CIA directors were unanimous on that. And a really profound point, I think, that was made by John Brennan, the current director, and also Michael Hayden, who preceded him …. Hayden … said that … unless the politicians and the diplomats can step up and have the imagination and the courage to find solutions to the creation of terrorism, then you get into this cycle where you just get to kill people forever.
DAVIES: You mean … you can prevent attacks for a period of time, but unless you undermine the appeal of terrorists, it will still be there.
WHIPPLE: That’s right. And Mike Morell was very articulate on this. He was acting director, and he was President Bush’s briefer on 9/11. He was acting director under President Obama. Mike Morell said … there have been two great victories [since 9/11]. Our great victory has been the decimation, near defeat, of that al-Qaida core in Asia that came to our shores on 9/11. Their great victory has been the spread of their ideology all through Africa and the Middle East. So they have a great victory too. [Emphasis added.]
“Top CIA ‘Spymasters’ Agree: We Can’t Kill Our Way Out Of Terrorism“, Fresh Air, NPR, 7 December 2015.
At the above link, you can access the 36-minute podcast, and download a transcript of the full interview.