An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror
By David Frum and Richard Perle
Random House
HC, 284 pg. US$25.95/C$37.95
ISBN: 1-4000-6194-6

Saving the world from itself

By Steven Martinovich
web posted February 2, 2004

For some the war against terror has gone one war too far. In a fit
of Wilsonian madness, they argue, the Bush administration has
turned a justifiable war against al-Qaida into an immoral global
campaign to reshape the world according to American desires. It
has come at the price of American liberties and anger by allies
and enemies alike. Intoxicated by its power, the American giant
may wakeup one day with quite a hangover and regrets about
what it did the night before.

Former Bush administration officials David Frum and Richard
Perle would disagree with all of these sentiments. Far from a
nation eager to continue prosecuting the war, they argue in An
End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror, they believe "many
in the American political and media elite are losing their nerve for
the fight."  Instead of renewed energy after a successful war in
Iraq, they "can feel the will to win ebbing in Washington; we
sense the reversion to the bad hold habits of complacency and
denial."

The immodestly titled An End to Evil is their response, a game
plan to put the war back on track. The pair propose what can
only be called an ambitious agenda, one that includes action both
inside and outside American borders. Indeed, there aren't many
aspects of American policy that wouldn't in some way be
impacted by their blueprint.

After a few chapters that essentially reiterate large portions of the
Bush doctrine, Frum and Perle get down to business by tackling
the changes they believe the United States must make internally.
They argue that there needs to be stricter enforcement of the
nation's immigration laws by all levels of government. The
government should commit to cutting off fundraising efforts by
the front groups of terrorist movements and dedicate law
enforcement to investigating suspicious behavior. If that's not
enough to worry civil libertarians, they also lobby for the
instituting of a national identity card system.

Their plan for action abroad may be even more ambitious. They
contend that a harder line needs to be taken with nations like
North Korea, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Libya and terrorist
groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, and the  complete
abandonment of the Palestinian cause. They propose a number
of solutions to handle each target -- for example; helping Iranian
dissidents as the Reagan administration did the Polish Solidarity
movement -- from diplomatic pressure to creating internal dissent
to weaken their governments. They are the types of solutions that
will doubtlessly have paleo-conservatives up at night screaming
about neo-conservative influences contaminating the White
House.

Perhaps the most useful section of the book, and one that most
would be sympathetic with, are Frum and Perle's call to
reorganize or restructure the FBI, CIA and State Department.
The mess over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction and
the failure to stop the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are
all the arguments Bush needs to shake up America's federal law
enforcement and intelligence communities. More controversial,
however, are Frum and Perle's contention that the State
Department sometimes acts against American interests. The
department, the claim, needs to "stop representing America to
the world and begin representing the world to America." One
way to do that, they argue, are more political appointees.

The most contentious section may be that which sees Frum and
Perle lay out their list of friends and foes. The European Union,
particularly France, comes under heavy fire though they do not
-- as some commentators have alleged -- declare the French to
be enemies. Also earning their ire is the United Nations, which
they declare to be outdated and unable to respond to the new
threats emerging. A firmer hand with Russia, a kinder approach
to China and outreach to South Asia round out this
disappointingly short section.

So what does this ambitious agenda, if put into place, earn the
United States? "A world at peace; a world governed by law; a
world in which all peoples are free to find their own destinies:
That dream has not yet come true, it will not come true soon, but
if it ever does come true, it will be brought into being by
American armed might and defended by American might, too."
It's the kind of eye rolling statement that arguably justifies claims
of neo-conservative arrogance.
 
An End to Evil is overly ambitious given that most of it rests on
the belief that American might or persuasion can fix the problems
of the world. Certainly, there are some elements of the Frum and
Perle agenda that are worthwhile but their optimism is likely
misplaced. One could argue that the United States is the greatest
force for good on the planet, especially since it has toppled two
tyrannies in recent years. Frum and Perle seem unaware,
however, there are limits to American power and dealing a
deathblow to evil isn't one of them.

Steven Martinovich is a freelance writer in Sudbury, Ontario,
Canada.

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