Operation Enduring Freedom as an Enabling Campaign in the War on Terrorism

<p>The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon left the American public in a state of anguish and anger. With the debris still smoldering in the streets of New York Bush stated that the United States and all those who want global peace will stand united to win the war against terrorism. Less than a month later Bush announced the beginning of Operation Enduring freedom the first military action in the broad campaign against terrorism. James W. Reed wrote Should Deterrence Fail: War Termination in Campaign Planning focusing on campaign planning and design. In the article Reed describes the relationship between terminal and enabling campaigns. The terminal campaign seeks war termination as an endstate. James W. Reed defines an enabling campaign as achieving some intermediate strategic objectives short of termination. With this in mind is Operation Enduring Freedom an effective enabling campaign to create conditions for the defeat of terrorism in the Central Command area of responsibility? The methodology for determining the effectiveness of Operation Enduring Freedom is in two pieces. First is the campaign adequate feasible and acceptable? This three part criteria is how joint doctrine evaluates effectiveness. Second do the operational objectives nest within the strategic endstate? According to Reed enabling campaigns help create the conditions for a terminal campaign. Therefore a linkage between the operational objectives and the terminal campaign that achieves the strategic endstate is imperative. The Italian Campaign offers a historical case study of an enabling campaign. By comparing the Italian Campaign with Operation Enduring Freedom the strengths and weakness of each generate lessons applicable to the future of the war on terrorism.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>