From War Is Boring:
“The current fight against Al Qaeda appears to have no end,” Leonard Weinberg and Arie Perliger wrote in the latest Sentinel counter-terrorism journal. (Not yet online.) “Various tactics have been employed to defeat the terrorist group, including assassinating cell leaders and “re-educating” members. Yet the network persists … “
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My Comment: Kudos to War is Boring in reproducing this chart .... it appears that killing or capturing the enemy produces results.
I strongly encourage anyone with an interest in this to check out this book. It is about this very same subject, and examines case studies of terror groups, and has a lengthy discussion of how this historical record applies to Al-Qaeda, and how certain strategies appropriate for combating other terrorist groups may or may not be appropriate for battling Al-Qaeda. One of the conclusions in Al-Qaeda's case is that while killing leaders may be appropriate for lowering Al-Qaeda's effectiveness as a terror group, it is unlikely to actually end the group, and it is more likely that killing Osama would turn him into a martyr. Al-Qaeda's diffuse, internet-centric nature makes it unlikely that killing a specific person or persons would weaken the group enough that they collapse. Even if you disagree with some of the conclusions re: Al-Qaeda, it is really an excellent book that provides really top-notch discussion on the history of how different terrorist campaigns have been fought and ended.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/How-Terrorism-Ends-Understanding-Terrorist/dp/0691139482
Thank you Alex for your feedback.
ReplyDeleteGreat chart!
ReplyDelete