RAND Determines War on Terror to be Bad Strategy

Though I expect the Mil-Biz complex will stick to their guns and continue to seek profit in their outmoded antipattern. Really, all sorts of convenient short-term economic and social engineering results are gained by popularizing a global spectre to relentlessly pursue but never quite catch. So much of global industry is far more invested in ongoing treatment of symptoms rather than finding cures and wiping out their business models. Nevertheless, it’s a positive sign when our most trusted defense analysts are standing up against such opportunistic and maladaptive.
From the RAND Report:

Abstract

How do terrorist groups end? The evidence since 1968 indicates that terrorist groups rarely cease to exist as a result of winning or losing a military campaign. Rather, most groups end because of operations carried out by local police or intelligence agencies or because they join the political process. This suggests that the United States should pursue a counterterrorism strategy against al Qa’ida that emphasizes policing and intelligence gathering rather than a “war on terrorism” approach that relies heavily on military force.

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