Auditing US "CT" Policy

This past week, I was invited as a guest speaker to brief the US Congressional staffers on US Counterterrorism policy and where Pakistan fits into it.

Here are some key points that I made:

1. Audit of US CT Policy

US has spent over $8 trillion on CT since 9/11 and the results after 24 years is that there is a 357% growth of domestic terrorism in the US, Taliban is back in power in Afghanistan, ISKP is surging, and most of the Middle East, including Pakistan is still under turmoil.

Counterterrorism was supposed to be a temporary measure under the PATRIOT Act following 9/11, which included sunset provisions by 2005. However, subsequent extensions to the PATRIOT Act institutionalised counterterrorism into a permanent feature of US policy. This transformation has created a self-sustaining “CT” economy, where vast sums of money continue to flow into security operations that often fail to deliver meaningful results. Meanwhile, diplomatic engagement and political solutions – arguably the only long-term strategies that work – have been sidelined. This security-first mindset has not only failed abroad but has also securitised American diplomacy and domestic politics, diminishing its ability to foster stability and democratic values across the world, and in the United States.

2. How Foreign Actors view CT

If you look closely, terrorism is prevalent primarily in postcolonial states where the extractive ruling elite bypassed structural reforms & democracy in favour of a centralised authoritarian state that could play the "geopolitics" game in hopes of securing foreign aid and domestic stability against the democratic voices in their countries. - Essentially terrorism is a direct outcome of the absence of democracy and presence of a brutal authoritarian regimes that relies on extraction as a national policy. - The ruling elite in most of these extractive state look at the US and all it sees is $$$ and more $$$ - The ruling elite in most of these terror-hit countries has been at war with their own population for decades, and got the US embroiled in their domestic politics and crackdown against democracy and human rights. - Net result? A) The US has been been conned by the foreign ruling elite to be a part of and help fund their authoritarian control over their country in the name of "CT ops" B) In cases where the US did understand the con, its short-term security interests trump the long term democratic and development interests of these countries making it convenient for the the US to align with the authoritarian regimes around the developing world.

3. What should the US do?

Run a serious audit of CT space and de-institutionalise it permanently so that the US policy community can starting thinking and talking in diplomatic, and political language.

As a strict policy, send out a message that the US will only engage, fund and endorse legitimate democratic governments around the world.

On Pakistan, the US must stand by the people of Pakistan and undo the Biden era damage of playing "favourites" in the country. Imran Khan is the only chance for any stability in Pakistan; all other avenues have now been exhausted. Only in standing with democracy in Pakistan, the US will win hearts and minds of the people, and at no cost.

Conclusion: The world is changing, and it's a good time for the US to move on from the post 9/11 era framing of policy, reality and global engagement through a CT lens. The new world will require doubling down on Democracy and Technology, and that is exactly what the new pillars of US foreign policy must be.