“The administration wasn’t matching its deeds to its words in the war on terrorism. They’re making us less secure, not more secure. As an insider, I saw the things that weren’t being done. And the longer I sat and watched, the more concerned I became, until I got up and walked out.” —Rand Beers

“Former Aide Takes Aim at War on Terror”, Washington Post,
June16, 2003

Position: Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Combating Terrorism
Tenure: 2002-2003

When Rand Beers abruptly resigned his position as one of the top counter-terrorism officials in the Bush Administration five days prior to the invasion of Iraq, few outside the Washington establishment took notice. If that event raised eyebrows amongst DC insiders, what Beers did next caused shock waves: eight weeks after his resignation he signed on as a volunteer adviser on national security affairs for the John Kerry campaign.

Beers’ actions came as such a shock because he was the consummate Washington bureaucrat, with 35 years of government service, most of it in intelligence circles. After graduating from Dartmouth in 1964, Beers served in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. Upon his return, he earned a Masters degree in history from the University of Michigan and began a career in the foreign service in 1971, holding various positions at the State Department. He joined the National Security Council staff, serving as senior director and special assistant to the President for intelligence. President Clinton appointed him Assistant Secretary of State for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs in 1998. In 2002 he returned to the National Security Council as special assistant and senior director for combating terrorism under President George W. Bush, and was responsible for analyzing terrorist threats and recommending countermeasures.

Beers became disillusioned with what he saw as the administration’s misplaced focus in its efforts to fight terrorism, telling the Washington Post in 2003, “Counterterrorism is like a team sport. There has to be offense and defense. The Bush Administration is primarily offense, and not into teamwork.” Beers found the White House approach to a serious issue unacceptable. “The difficult, long-term issues both at home and abroad,” he said, “have been avoided, neglected or shortchanged, and generally underfunded.”

Beers is limited in his ability to speak by his former access to classified material, but he has criticized the administration for ignoring the root causes of terrorism. Speaking of her husband’s experiences in the Bush White House, his wife Bonnie said, “It’s a very closed, small, controlled group. This is an administration that determines what it thinks and then sets about to prove it. There’s almost a religious kind of certainty. There’s no curiosity about opposing points of view. It’s very scary. There’s a kind of ghost agenda.”