Counter-Terror Expert: ‘Think About a Career in Public Service’

The world is full of truly scary things.

 

Senior Dean Paul Withstandley reminded listeners at Monday’s Upper School assembly of just a few: Data breaches, infectious-disease outbreaks, natural disasters, biological weapons, terrorist plots, and acts of terror.

 

Most of us prefer not to think about them — not to imagine them, not to plan for them, not to confront the natural fear of them, he said.

 

But someone needs to man the watchtower, to prompt top-level discussions about terror threats, to develop strategies to defeat terrorists abroad, and to help ensure the United States’ national security. 

 

During the last two decades, a prominent figure in this charge has been Daniel Benjamin, Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the U.S. State Department from 2009 to 2012.

 

Benjamin also served on the National Security Council from 1994 to 1999, as a member of President Clinton’s staff.

           

The Harvard graduate and Marshall Scholar at Oxford visited with the Upper School community as part of the Class of 2005 Speaker Series — an endowed gift from parents of the Class of 2005 to bring renowned and informative speakers to the Brunswick campus.

           

“I heartily endorse your school saying — ‘With All Thy Getting, Get Understanding’ — and hope that after today, you’ll be interested in following up on some of these international issues and doing something about them,” Benjamin said.

 

He spotlighted the three main drivers for foreign-policy makers in Washington today: The rise of China, the crisis in the Ukraine, and the ascent of the non-state actor ISIS.

 

“The fourth real challenge is here at home, because of the way we have talked about the problem of ISIS,” Benjamin added. “So far, the threat is nothing like 9/11. But because of the public debate and all kinds of crazy suggestions, we have a very worked-up populace in the U.S.

 

“I fear we’re creating a sense that we have to put troops on the ground,” he said. “But we should remember what happened the last time we invaded Iraq and the ultimate cost — in American casualties and dollars — of that war.”

           

Instead, Benjamin underscored the billion-dollar investments the U.S. has made in its intelligence and counterterrorism capabilities, and asserted his confidence in those advancements.  

 

“This is a threat we can manage without getting back on the ground in Iraq and Syria,” he said. “We’re a really powerful country, and we can deal with a lot of the problems.”

 

He should know.

In January 2000, more than 18 months before the 9/11 attacks, Benjamin co-authored an op-ed column in The New York Times, entitled “The New Face of Terrorism.”

           

“Terrorists allied with Mr. bin Laden do not want a place at the table; they want to shatter the table,” he wrote. “They are not constrained by secular political concerns. Their objective is not to influence, but to kill, and in large numbers.”

           

And, in a September 2002 article entitled “Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda Are Not Allies,” Benjamin wrote, “The last war against Iraq was a catalytic event for the Islamists who formed Al Qaeda. We should not be complacent and believe that the next one will be different, or that the jihadist violence cannot grow worse.”

 

Benjamin is currently the Norman E. McCulloch, Jr. Director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College.

 

“To help the American people maintain their security and to improve how we do in the world is incredibly rewarding,” Benjamin told Upper School students.

           

“I hope you’ll think about a career in public service.”