War Against International Islamic Terrorism

<p>Since September 11 2001 the United States government has concentrated many of its resources on combating international terrorism. Military operations have taken place in the Philippines Afghanistan and Iraq in an effort to destroy terrorist networks eliminate weapons or discourage states from supporting terror organizations and their goals. Despite the successes of the GWOT some critics have questioned the direction of the current strategy. The operations have required and will continue to require significant resources from participating nations - especially the United States. Given these demands it is imperative that the United States pursue the appropriate national strategy so that resources are not wasted and the enemy is effectively targeted. In order to evaluate the GWOT this monograph examines several questions about the terrorist threat. First what is the nature of the enemy? Should the terror groups be defined as criminal or as representative of a larger disenfranchised population? Second what is the enemy 's desired endstate and how does it impact western interests? Finally how should the elements of national power be applied against the threat? This paper will address four important areas. First it will analyze the enemy his situation and his vision. Second it will reveal enemy and friendly endstates and centers of gravity that support those endstates. Third it will outline critical vulnerabilities based on those centers of gravity. Finally it will offer implications and recommendations for the national strategy. Considered in the context of a mass movement the international Islamic terror phenomenon poses a threat unique from those of other terrorist groups and in turn it should be analyzed and attacked based on those unique characteristics. Furthermore a comprehensive national strategy must be designed to counter the pervasive menace.</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>