20 Years of Cato Research on the War on Terror

Justin Logan20 years ago, Cato scholars began researching the global war on terror. Amid the chaos and uncertainty of the time, Cato analysts frequently dissented from the Beltway consensus. TheWall Street Journal ’shawkish editorial page editor Paul Gigot vividly dismissed Cato ’s foreign policy scholars,declaring that “I don’t look to the Cato Institute or any of their writers for instruction on foreign policy. Is libertarianism a school of thought, or is it four or five people in a phone booth? ” At times that is what it felt like, but theJournal ’s op ‐​ed page would have been better off with a less rigidly enforced party line.To highlight 20 years of Cato ’s analysis of the war on terror, we have assembleda page cataloging a tiny portion of what Cato scholars said, and when, about the various aspects of the GWOT.On September 11, Ted Carpenterwrote that “the President should immediately seek the full authorization of Congress to use whatever military force is necessary against the guilty parties” but that “if we damage our constitutional freedoms in the name of combating terrorism, the terrorists will have achieved a lasting triumph. ”By November he wasworrying that we were “flirting with nation‐​building in Afghanistan,” pointing out that “America’s security interests do not require the existence of a stable, democratic government in Kabul, and such a regime is not likely to emerge in...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs