Speaker: James J. Foster, Deputy Chief of the Mission of the United States to the European Union

Mr James Foster started his presentation by stressing the fact that the American people as well as their government express their deepest condolences to the people of Spain and all the victims of the tragic events.
 
He thus expressed his wish to see that Europeans fight with increased resolve in order to root out the causes of terrorism. The US has experienced the same devastating effect of terrorism before. Although Europe has in the past already had its share of terrorist experience at the national level, notably through the red brigades, the conflict in Northern Ireland and the Basque terrorist organisation ETA, these forms of political violence are not comparable to the events of 9/11 or 3/11, nor to the recent bombings in Tashkent and other attacks in Bali, Morocco and Istanbul. The latter form of terrorism is carried out on a global scale and causes a greater level of destruction, making use of suicide bombers and indiscriminately targeting civilians. In his own words “all of us are targets and all of us are combatants”.
 
Mr Foster referred to the fact that traditionally, the basic unit of conflict was the state. This has however evolved following the attacks of 11 September and 11 March to comprise non-state actors pursuing what is seen as ideological goals. Therefore the US and the EU cannot let down their guard and have to face up to this new challenge.
 
The American diplomat pointed out the fact that the social and educational background of most terrorists has no relevance as to the reasons why they may become terrorists. Mr Foster considers it crucial, in addition to diplomacy, to strengthen law enforcement and claims the use of force as well as military action is justified in the fight against terrorism, because “draining the swamp is simply not enough”.
 
Mr Foster expressed his enthusiasm with regard to the conclusions of the European Council Summit (25–26 March) and said that he was very pleased with the Council Declaration on Combating Terrorism. Mr Foster considers that the Council conclusions spell out the necessary steps that need to be taken to act against this kind of global threat. He also supports the recent remarks made by Javier Solana (High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy) on the fact that the EU will take the necessary steps on its own and in conjunction with its international partners in the fight against terrorism, since terrorism has a global agenda and “we’re all at risk”.
 
In the same line, Mr Foster also expressed his satisfaction with the results of the meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers, where discussions were held on the topic of the transfer of the so-called ‘Passenger Name Record’ (PNR) from the EU to the United States’ Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. Mr Foster considers the transfer of passenger data as a necessary measure in the fight against terrorism. He also considered as a positive development the creation of a Chief Privacy Officer post within the Department of Homeland Security, to whom these sorts of issues can be addressed. He pointed out that in this way the protection of privacy and personal data will be ensured when transferred to the US authorities.
 
In his opinion, terrorism needs to be viewed from an economic perspective. It appears that the terrorists’ final goal is to harm Western economies by creating a climate of uncertainty within our economic systems. The result of renewed terrorist attacks in Europe can equally be a potential downside to European economies and stability.
 
The Deputy Chief of Mission also underlined the importance of the Greater Middle East initiative by stating that “their problem has become our problem”. The EU and the US need to coordinate their actions on the Middle East in order to better address the political as well as socio-economic problems in most of these countries. The EU has led the way in this domain as early as 1995 with the Barcelona process. Nevertheless, the US has also been a generous provider of development aid and is looking to further increase its financial assistance and efforts in these countries. The American diplomat is looking forward to the forthcoming G7 and G8 summits as well as the 4th June EU-US summit, to find improved methods of cooperation in this area.
 
Mr Foster stressed the need to remain respectful of civil liberties and human rights while developing security policies combating terrorism. This issue has also raised a huge debate in the US, based on an active participation by civil society and large media coverage.
 
Mr Foster highlighted that Mr Richard A. Clarke’s greatest criticism of the present administration and the various intelligence agencies is the fact that the latter failed to act when available information was pointing to the imminent terrorist attacks of 11 September. As a consequence of this apparent failure, the necessity for the various US intelligence agencies to collaborate and share information was introduced by the Patriot Act.
 
In comparison to the US system, Mr Foster stressed that currently a European Intelligence Agency does not yet exist. Indeed, its creation is proving problematic as far as ‘the information’ is mainly concentrated in the hands of the national intelligence agencies of each member state. He therefore felt it necessary to remind the audience that terrorism does not respect national boundaries anymore, and that the powers of Europol need to be further strengthened. He agreed with the initiative presented by the spring European Council consisting in the promotion of a more effective systematic collaboration in intelligence exchange in the EU. Mr Foster also stressed that while developing these security initiatives, the right balance has to be stricken between the respect of civil liberties and human rights (freedom) and the fight against and prevention of terrorism (security).
 
The Deputy Chief of Mission rounded off his presentation saying that no causal connection exists between the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the events of 11 September. A solution to the present conflict would not have necessarily prevented these terrorist attacks. He concurs, however, that this enflames opinions and creates a difficult environment in which to fight terrorism