Study: Best way to beat terrorism is by ending War On Terror

So says the RAND Corporation ...

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9351/index1.html

 

Re: Study: Only way to beat terrorism is by ending War On Terror

RAND Corporation, officially --- it's an acronym.

Here's the abstract:

<blockquote>How do terrorist groups end? The evidence since 1968 indicates that terrorist groups rarely cease to exist as a result of winning or losing a military campaign. Rather, most groups end because of operations carried out by local police or intelligence agencies or because they join the political process. This suggests that the United States should pursue a counterterrorism strategy against al Qa'ida that emphasizes policing and intelligence gathering rather than a “war on terrorism” approach that relies heavily on military force. </blockquote>

And here's the final four grafs of the research brief:

<blockquote>Al Qa'ida's resilience should trigger a fundamental rethinking of U.S. strategy. Its goal of a pan-Islamic caliphate leaves little room for a negotiated political settlement with governments in the Middle East. A more effective U.S. approach would involve a two-front strategy:

* Make policing and intelligence the backbone of U.S. efforts. Al Qa'ida consists of a network of individuals who need to be tracked and arrested. This requires careful involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as their cooperation with foreign police and intelligence agencies.
* Minimize the use of U.S. military force. In most operations against al Qa'ida, local military forces frequently have more legitimacy to operate and a better understanding of the operating environment than U.S. forces have. This means a light U.S. military footprint or none at all.

Key to this strategy is replacing the war-on-terrorism orientation with the kind of counterterrorism approach that is employed by most governments facing significant terrorist threats today. Calling the efforts a war on terrorism raises public expectations — both in the United States and elsewhere — that there is a battlefield solution. It also tends to legitimize the terrorists' view that they are conducting a jihad (holy war) against the United States and elevates them to the status of holy warriors. Terrorists should be perceived as criminals, not holy warriors.</blockquote>

RAND tends to be fairly militarist (not surprising, given its DoD roots), so this conclusion is somewhat surprising.

 

Re: Study: Only way to beat terrorism is by ending War On Terror

Unfortunately, the headquarters of the RAND Corporation have just been blown up ....


... by Halliburton.

 

The irony here is incredible, given the Bush-Cheney camp's penchant for mocking anyone who suggested that terrorism should be considered primarily a law-enforcement issue, rather than a military one.

 

Of course. The law-enforcement slant doesn't suit their self-serving agenda.

 

People have been saying this since the start of the war on tour.
So I don't think this is anything new. Rand might be newest and largest name, but I swear I read the same argument in the New Yorker or one of the larger papers four years ago.

 

The difference is that the RAND Corporation ... is the RAND Corporation. Its studies have a lot of influence in Wonderland.

 

Thank goodness some sanity may see the light of day soon.