Michael Schiffer: Four ways to fight terror today Some changes in strategy can help the United States fare better in the response to Al-Qaida and others.
Michael Schiffer Published: March 26, 2007 With the Taliban preparing a spring offensive and Al-Qaida reconstituting its command structure, it's time for the United States to reassess its approach to the war on terrorism. Even as the White House and Congress remain embroiled in debate over the future course of U.S. policy in Iraq, our efforts to combat Al-Qaida and other jihadis are headed in the wrong direction. As the Bush administration's own National Intelligence Estimate concluded last year, the Iraq conflict has created more terrorists, not fewer, and has made Americans less safe. Five years after 9/11, how should we be responding to Al-Qaida and making sure our efforts to combat terrorism don't go off track? Here are four steps that would take us in the right direction: 1 Separate Iraq from the efforts to combat global terrorism. A pivot in our Iraq strategy would create an opening for the administration to walk back the ill-conceived conflation of the war in Iraq with the battle against Al-Qaida. At the same time, the administration should make clear while Al-Qaida and other jihadis who would do us harm are our enemies -- and must be treated as such -- the United States rejects any specific link between Islam and terror. 2 Recognize that the "war on terrorism" is a political, not military, battle. Unlike a conventional war, the fight against terrorists is one that will not be won on the battlefield alone. We still need a political strategy to address the underlying grievances that support terror and provide alternative pathways by building up civil society institutions that encourage peaceful political dissent. Likewise, reconstruction, humanitarian assistance and economic development are critical for efforts to gain the political legitimacy that will allow us to prevail in this struggle. U.S. strategy thus far has inflated Al-Qaida's importance and provided its leaders with a political platform to broadcast their ideology, recruit new members and inspire affiliated groups. In other words, to achieve the very political goals that allow them to continue to wage war. While more troops in Afghanistan may be necessary to counter the Taliban and Al-Qaida operating there and in the Pakistani border regions, an overreliance on the military alone may create more problems than it solves. Without the context of a well-developed political strategy, even tactical military success often simply fuels future revenge cycles and provides "information warfare" victories to the jihadis. 3 Divide our enemies. We must be smarter in both recognizing and seeking to exploit the cleavages that exist between different terrorist groups. Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaida, Jamiah Islamiah, LeT, the Mahdi Army -- to name but a few of the most recognized organizations often lumped together under the "Islamofascist" heading -- may all pose real challenges to U.S. national security interests, but they are far from unified. They operate in different ways, in different geographic and ideological spheres, and with different goals in mind. Each of these groups and organizations should be met and engaged -- through diplomacy, political dialogue, intelligence work or military force. For some, like Al-Qaida, force may be the only option. But driving our enemies together and providing them common cause is counterproductive. 4 Unite our friends. The United States should renew its efforts to engage with others in the international community in shared antiterror ventures. Unless we move aggressively to boost our efforts at international cooperation and provide adequate resources for international police and intelligence work, the idea that we can create an effective "net" to catch the movement of money, people and materials critical to terrorist operations will end in failure. In a globalized world, international partnerships are critical in building the necessary capacity in weak states -- such as police, prosecutors, judges and customs -- to constrain terrorist activities. Failure to turn a corner in our efforts to combat Al-Qaida, compounded by a failure in Iraq, could severely limit our ability and willingness to meet the challenges of a globalized world -- and could well prove to be the Bush administration's biggest strategic blunder yet. Michael Schiffer is a program officer in Policy Analysis and Dialogue at the Muscatine, Iowa-based Stanley Foundation. <http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1075939.html <http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1075939.html> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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