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Rand Corp Report: Military Not Effective In Fighting Terrorism
Jul 30, 2008 11:26 PM
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A new Rand Corporation report on the end of terrorist organizations supports the views that police and law enforcement tools are generally more effective than military force in countering most options.
The AP report noted that the Rand report said that the use of military force by the United States or other countries should be reserved for quelling large, well-armed and well-organized insurgencies and that American officials should stop using the term "war on terror" and replace it with "counterterrorism."
This useful report focuses on how various terrorist groups have ended their activities. It said that by analyzing the 648 terrorist groups that existed worldwide between 1968 and 2006, the authors found that 268 terrorist groups ended during that period. 40% ended because of operations carried out by local police or intelligence agencies. Meanwhile, 43% reached a peaceful political accommodation with their government. In 10% of cases, terrorist groups ended because they achieved victory, while the application of military force led to the end of terrorist groups in only 7% of cases.
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9351/index1.html
From the summary:
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.
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"A true patriot is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins." - Frederick Douglass
"The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian doctrine" -George Washington
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Edited by clark22 at 07/30/2008 11:32 PM
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Posts:
33
From:
Lync
Registered:
6/30/07
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(2 of 4)
Re: Rand Corp Report: Military Not Effective In Fighting Terrorism
Jul 31, 2008 1:19 PM
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Interesting.
I'm wondering how the "Surge" will stand up in History, after the war is finished. I've begun to question if an increase in troops really meant anything at all.
Could we have done what we did with the 130,000 we already had?
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Posts:
26,978
From:
Flagstaff
Registered:
7/12/01
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Re: Rand Corp Report: Military Not Effective In Fighting Terrorism
Aug 1, 2008 12:24 AM
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I think that is generally true. Trouble is, there was no army or police force in Afghanistan and none in Iraq after we invaded.
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Beam me up Scottie, no intelligent life down here.
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Posts:
33
From:
Lync
Registered:
6/30/07
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(4 of 4)
Re: Rand Corp Report: Military Not Effective In Fighting Terrorism
Aug 5, 2008 10:01 AM
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Well there were, we just descided that we didn't need them anymore.
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