Richard Clarke on How to Win the War on Terror

[jefferson_dem]

Now that the presidential campaign is behind us, it's time for the nation's political leaders to recognize what many experts in the counterterrorism field have been saying for a long time: America needs to change course in the war on terror.

International jihadist groups have conducted twice as many attacks since Sept. 11, 2001 as they did in the three years prior to that date. Jihadist membership has increased over the past three years, and leaders who have been killed or captured have been replaced. Anti-Americanism throughout the Muslim world has been exacerbated by the war in Iraq, which also created a sanctuary for jihadists.

It seems clear the United States has failed to eliminate or even seriously weaken the violent Islamist threat. This is the greatest challenge facing our generation, and the Sept. 11 commission provided an excellent road map for confronting it. Building on the commission's recommendations, a task force that I assembled and chaired for the Century Foundation has developed a blueprint for action to defeat the jihadists.

Its main elements:

Clarify the threat: To be effective, we must have consensus about the nature of the problem facing us. That threat is not terrorism, or even all terrorist organizations, but rather the jihadist terrorists who seek to hijack Islam and use violence to replace existing governments with nondemocratic theocracies.

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http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/clarke112304.html

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. We just lost the war on November 2nd.

:(

[Thurston Howell IV]

2. Whether he goes far enough or not

Richard Clark is worth listening to. Even within his proscribed bounds, his recommendations make a lot of sense. Thanks for the link!