Kean '57 urges nation to unite against threat

The United States must set aside partisan politics and adopt a forward-thinking, multifaceted approach to secure itself from the threat of terrorism, said Thomas Kean '57, chair of the 9/11 Commission and the recipient of this year's Woodrow Wilson Award.

Calling the terrorist threat the greatest foreign policy challenge facing the nation, Kean said, "We're safer today than we were a few years ago, but we're far from safe."

Kean, past two-term governor of New Jersey and current president of Drew University, delivered the lecture in Richardson Hall after being honored with the award on Alumni Day. He was recognized for his contributions to the 9/11 Commission and its report on the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80 said Kean exemplified the "in the Nation's service" message of past University president Woodrow Wilson, Class of 1879.

"The report was extraordinary for its bipartisanship at a time of intense and damaging partisanship," she said in her introduction to Kean's speech.

"First of all, it's well written; no easy task," Slaughter said. "You saw people in airplanes, in waiting rooms, even on the beach reading it."

In his hour-long speech, Kean stressed the gravity and distinctiveness of the danger posed by Islamic extremists and offered recommendations to improve security in the United States and economic and social conditions in the Middle East.

"A threat of terrorism is without a doubt the most serious security issue we face today," he said, adding that many responses have been too shallow and too partisan.

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Kean criticized the entrenched political atmosphere in Washington for impeding necessary intelligence and policy reform and outlined three steps to prevent another devastating terrorist attack.

"Hardcore terrorists" must be captured or killed; homeland security has to improve, with more intelligent distribution of funds and better communication between leaders in Washington; and the United States must do more to decrease the spread of extremism in the Middle East, he said.

To prevent the creation of more terrorists — which Kean called the greatest foreign policy challenge facing the nation today — he emphasized the need to support the evolution of democracy and reform in Middle Eastern nations.

"If you're free to elect and criticize your own government, you can get out a lot of frustration that way," Kean said.

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Though you can't force democracy on people, nations that offer no hope for their people — especially their young people — are the most fertile grounds for terrorism, he said.

Kean made little mention of the war in Iraq, saying only that "Iraq was not part of 9/11," but he commended President Bush for using much of his inaugural address to push for the spread of democracy throughout the world.

"We now find it in our best interests to move closer once again to the Wilsonian ideal," he said.

Kean also admonished American leaders for their failure to boost the United States' reputation in the Middle East.

"The American image can no longer continue to be that of a man in a tank," he said.

He said we must encourage free trade in the region, find educational alternatives to Madrassas and fully recognize the ambassadorial potential of our popular culture.

"If we don't act aggressively to define ourselves in that area of the world," he said, "we will be defined by others."

Kean mentioned that he was deeply touched by the events of Sept. 11, having lost close friends in the attack, and that the 9/11 Commission would not have been so successful without the support of victims' family members and their ability to channel personal anguish into a drive for the truth.

He said that any reservations he had about leading a controversial commission were quickly put to rest when President Bush asked him to be chairman. "There was no way I could have said no when I got that call," Kean said.