RAND Says ‘Drop the GWOT’
A new RAND study argues that the rhetoric in the fight against al Qaeda needs to be deescalated.
This is not the first time these arguments have been made, but the report states them well.A key part of this strategy should include ending the notion of a war on terrorism and replacing it with such concepts as counterterrorism, which most governments with significant terrorist threats use. The British government, among others, has already taken this step and abjured the phrase ‘war on terror.’ The phrase raises public expectations—both in the United States and elsewhere—that there is a battlefield solution to the problem of terrorism. It also encourages others abroad to respond by conducting a jihad (or holy war) against the United States and elevates them to the status of holy warriors. Terrorists should be perceived and described as criminals, not holy warriors.
They’ve dropped the stupid term? Finally.
Comment by Yours Truly — August 3, 2008 @ 9:22 am