9 Steps to Winning the War on Terrorism
The recent attack in Manchester England against children is bringing greater attention (again) to the angers to us all of global terrorism (at least it did for me). Revisiting terrorism invokes images in my mind of 9/11, and all he deep emotions that go with it. Here we are in 2017, combatting the same terrorist threats we had in 2001… Except the actors are now more sophisticated, and seemingly more determined.
This troubles me a great deal as an American, a patriot, and a veteran of the US Navy. When i was a Midshipman many years ago, the new concept of low intensity conflict was introduced… It feels more relevant to the current war on terrorism than other conflicts I have seen.
I have studied terrorism. I spent time in the Arabian Gulf on ships as a Cryptologic Officer in the late 90s. I have also studied warfare. I do have some understanding of both our allies and enemies in the Middle East. I have given a great deal of thought to how the US can wage a more effective campaign against the forces of terrorism, and for your consideration have boiled it down to 9 main points.
- Use of nonconventional tactics. Terrorism is truly a nonconventional threat. Terrorist actors often times have more in common with drug lords than with traditional military foes. We need to embrace this. DoD has not fought this type of wars often as DEA has… And DEA may know best on how to effectively fight terrorism. It will take some out of the box thinking to fight a constantly evolving threat. DEA has a wealth of experience here.
- Make an effort to understand why people become radicalized. The threats will continue as long as people are willing to blow themselves up rather than living. Understanding where the hatred comes from is critical to eliminating the hatred. One guy who "gets this" is Thomas Friedman.
- Look to the Northern Ireland peace efforts to model peace efforts against the current terrorist threats. In the 1980s, Northern Ireland faced similar terrorist threats from the IRA and Sinn Fein. Things changed in the 1990s... President Bill Clinton understood a contributing factor to terrorism is high unemployment. He encouraged investment in Ireland to stimulate job creation. It was the perfect fit... An English speaking population that was largely unemployed to assist with labor demands from the tech boom. His efforts and the efforts of his administration helped to move the ball towards peace. If you look at unemployment today in the Middle East, you will see similar trends to what there used to be in Northern Ireland.
- Follow the Money. The United States and our allies should aggressively pursue where terrorist funding is coming from - and aggressively seize the funds. Terrorism isn't cheap - if terrorists aren't well funded, they will have trouble sustaining operations.
- Call out who is funding terrorists - whoever they may be. This is important in establishing who the true enemy is (even if they are friends or allies). Remember where Osama Bin Laden was hiding out.
- Create a compelling counter narrative to terrorism on the web. ISIS has been highly effective in getting their story out on the web. It's part of their radicalization strategy. We are the country that invented Hollywood - we should use Hollywood type resources to tell a counter narrative.
- Focus on the elimination of threats for the long term. We should make a concerted effort to persuade our enemies that there is a better way.
- Keep human rights on the agenda with the Arab world. We can't sell others on our values on human rights if we always look the other way when it comes to the Arab world. We should take a similar posture with the Middle East we do with China.
- Foster communications and collaboration with foreign intelligence agencies (inside and outside of the "5 I's"). In this war, intelligence is a key component for long term success. We will need all the help we can get to eliminate the threats.
I firmly believe that we can beat the terrorists in this war; I just think we have to execute it a little differently. My faith in the United States and our ability to defeat this foe is just as strong as it was in 1989 when I was 17 and still optimistic about the world.
We can beat them, forever and ever.