The Raines Regime will be dedicated to Multilateral action. I believe it is essential for the United States to Promote Democratic Values around the world. However, the rest of the world doesn't hear what we say, they observe how we act. Take Iraq for example: The United States wanted to go to war based on a UN Resolution. So they took their case to the appropriate democratic body...the UN. Colin Powell made the case to go to war. When the Bush Administration saw that the UN was not going to approve the resolution for war then we backed out. The United States said we don't need to use this democratic body. We have the authority to act UNILATERIAL, and go to war without having ever been attacked. We as Americans must understand that much of the Middle East doesn't see us as liberating Iraq; they see us as invading it. This perpetuates this feeling of United States as the tyrannical government in the world amongst many Middle Eastern citizens. Multilateral action can change that. When we act alone we alienate the world, and we contribute to the causes of terrorism. The best way for the United States to promote democratic values is to practice them on a worldwide basis. We cannot do it through occupation and forced regime change because that in itself is contradictory to democracy.
War On Terror:
How would the Raines Regime fight Terrorism that currently plagues the world? We would start by following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton who had the foresight to know the legitimacy of the threat of terrorism. It was two former Reagan counterterrorism officials, Robert Oakley and Paul Bremer, who praised Clinton's steps on fighting terrorism before he left office. Oakley's only criticism was that Clinton focused too much on Bin Ladin. Clinton's focus on terrorism allowed him to stop many documented terrorist plots before they occurred. Clinton tripled the FBI counterterrorism budget. He created a top-national level security post to coordinate all federal terrorism activity. He put a greater priority on stopping terrorism than any president before him. He fought republicans to get more funding when they took over Congress. It was Richard Clarke, appointed by Clinton who came up with a comprehensive plan to take apart Al Qaeda. The plan included taking out the financial support, covert action in Afghanistan to eliminate terrorist training camps, and plans to take down bin Ladin himself. His plan would go ignored by the Bush administration until 9/11. Since 9/11 the plan, which included a Department of Homeland Security has been implemented. The Raines administration would continue to fight these terrorist cells through intelligence, and covert strikes. We would use the foundations Bill Clinton laid to get rid of all current terrorist threats, and work from a multilateral international agenda to prevent future terrorists from being formed.
The End of Pre-Emptive Strike- This is the worst doctrine the Bush Administration has given us. The Raines administration would use Military force when necessary but will never use Unilateral force on a Nation that has remained peaceful on the assumption they may one day be a threat.