« Brainsteam Bullshit | Main | Lee Harvey Oswald in Minsk »
October 9, 2013
This is How We'll Defeat Al-Qaeda
The seeming implication of the “we’ll-never-give-up” message,that these actions might dissuade other terrorists from sowing violence that threatens regional stability or international security, is false. The raids, like drone strikes, are effective not because they might have such an effect. They won’t. Rather, they are effective simply because they take senior leaders off of the battlefield. - - War On the Rocks
Posted by gerardvanderleun at October 9, 2013 10:36 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
It was a long article. It boils down to "know your enemy" "kill your enemy".
The fact that we are supposedly only now getting the enemy from the 80's says it all.
Posted by: Grace at October 9, 2013 12:00 PM
Nation building is a bridge too far in the Muslim world. Thus the failure of Iraq and Afghanistan to develop even a shadow of liberalism after we poured so much blood, treasure, and good intentions into the effort.
Yes, target their leaders, but know that as each one goes down there will be another to take his place. It is an endless whack-a-mole project.
What is needed is a big picture strategy. What fuels their ability to wreak mayhem and murder around the globe? Oil money and, to a lesser extent, financing from Muslims in western countries. The best long term strategy is to:
1.Isolate them as much as possible.
2. Keep killing their leaders and radical imams.
3. Go full speed ahead developing non-Muslim energy sources.
4. Disrupt their web of financial support.
5. Wait for them to return to the poverty that only they know how to create.
Yep, it will take awhile - maybe 20-40 years. The above strategy is somewhat like the one that won the Cold War. It's doable. All it takes is a long range plan and the leadership to execute it.
Posted by: Jimmy J. at October 9, 2013 7:33 PM