war on terror

Would Sherman Pursue Today’s Jihadists?

SWJED — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:05:00 +0000

Would Sherman Pursue Today’s Jihadists? SWJED Thu, 08/29/2019 - 1:05pm

In December of 1860, William Tecumseh Sherman delivered a speech to Louisianans on the subject of secession and articulated the kind of timeless logic Americans ought to apply before deciding to go to war.

Needed: A Comprehensive History of the War on Terror

SWJED — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 20:11:13 +0000

Needed: A Comprehensive History of the War on Terror

The study needs to start with a baseline of how to defeat terrorists and insurgents. It can’t accept at face value the hopes and aspirations of American policy makers and field commanders as they entered the War on Terror. It needs to measure their strategies and tactics against proven success.

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Toward Understanding the Actions of the Islamic State and Other Jihadist Groups as Military Doctrine

SWJED — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 14:43:23 +0000

Toward Understanding the Actions of the Islamic State and Other Jihadist Groups as Military Doctrine

After over a decade and a half of the “War on Terror,” the United States and its allies have discovered the difficulty of fighting insurgent terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Operating from hard-to-reach areas, such as mountains and deserts, exploiting lack of effective government control, and leveraging support from local populations, these organizations have developed a way of war that defies even U.S. military efforts.

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Jus Post Bellum from the Jordanian Perspective: Implications for U.S. Policy Makers

SWJED — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 06:03:32 +0000

Jus Post Bellum from the Jordanian Perspective: Implications for U.S. Policy Makers

This essay seeks to demonstrate key ethical questions that arise as the U.S. continues to counter violent extremism in the Middle East. Ethical questions will be analyzed through the actions of an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, Jordan.

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What to Expect in the New American ‘War on Terror’ in the Philippines

SWJED — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 19:08:54 +0000

What to Expect in the New American ‘War on Terror’ in the Philippines

The U.S. military resumed its counterterrorism mission in the Philippines in September 2017. This new operation comes on the heels of the rise of ISIS-linked groups.

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The False Assumptions Fueling America’s Endless War

SWJED — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:38:12 +0000

The False Assumptions Fueling America’s Endless War SWJED Tue, 02/27/2018 - 9:38am

I argue that the war endures, in large part, because national security policy makers, military operators, and think tank scholars have embraced several false assumptions.

Diplomacy and the War on Terror

SWJED — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 11:57:01 +0000

Diplomacy and the War on Terror SWJED Mon, 09/18/2017 - 7:57am

It’s an appropriate time to reflect upon the role of diplomacy in the War on Terror through the years of the Bush and Obama administrations.

The War on Terror... Over? Part 2

Peter J. Munson — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:20:00 +0000

The War on Terror... Over? Part 2

Some US objectives remain unmet.

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The War on Terror - Over?

Peter J. Munson — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:30:00 +0000

The War on Terror - Over? Peter J. Munson Tue, 08/28/2012 - 5:30am

A look at the war and how the administrations have prosecuted it.

The Lost Decade?

Peter J. Munson — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 02:59:37 +0000

The Lost Decade?

This provocative essay from Angelo Codevilla at the Claremont Review of Books has enough vitriol in it to get some on everyone's sacred cow. He discusses everything from a revolutionary social situation, to the farce of TSA screening, to the paucity of ships for an "island nation." Even if you don't agree with some or all of it, the issues he raises and the way he addresses them are sure to get you thinking.

September 11's planners could hardly have imagined that their attacks might seriously undermine what Americans had built over two centuries, ... In fact, our decline happened because the War on Terror—albeit microscopic in size and destructiveness as wars go—forced upon us, as wars do, the most important questions that any society ever faces: Who are we, and who are our enemies? What kind of peace do we want? What does it take to get it? Are we able and willing to do what it takes to secure our preferred way of life, to deserve living the way we prefer? Our bipartisan ruling class's dysfunctional responses to such questions inflicted the deepest wounds.

...After 9/11, at home and abroad, our bipartisan ruling class did the characteristic things it had done before—just more of them, and more intensely. ... Ten years later, the results speak for themselves: the terrorists' force mineure proved to be the occasion for our own ruling elites and their ideas to plunge the country into troubles from which they cannot extricate it.

Peter J. Munson Fri, 04/13/2012 - 10:59pm