This book is unlike other RAND publications. While it is based in
part on objective research, particularly as it applies to knowing
the enemy, it also includes the personal reflections of someone who
has thought about terrorism for decades. I initiated RAND's
research on terrorism in 1972 with a simple memorandum that
observed that this phenomenon was likely to spread and increase and
could create serious problems for the United States and its allies;
therefore, I proposed, we should take a serious look at it...This
book differs from other RAND publications in yet another respect.
The reader will find strong personal opinions on these pages. There
is much concerning the conduct of the war on terror that I agree
with: the muscular initial response to 9/11, the removal of the
Taliban government, the relentless pursuit of al Qaeda's leaders
and planners, the increasingly sophisticated approach to homeland
security, and, although I have deep reservations about the invasion
of Iraq, President Bush's determination to avoid an arbitrary
timetable for withdrawal. The list of things with which I do not
agree is longer: the needless bravado, the arrogant attitude toward
needed allies, the exploitation of fear, the exaggerated claims of
progress, the serial bending of history and fact, the persistence
of a wanted-poster approach while the broader ideological struggle
is ignored, the rush to invade Iraq, the failure to deploy
sufficient troops there despite the advice of senior military
leaders and the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the
cavalier dismissal of treaties governing the conduct of war, the
mistreatment of prisoners, the unimaginable public defense of
torture, the use of homeland security funding for political pork
barrel spending, and the failure to educate and involve citizens.
This book is not intended to serve any political agenda. Its sole
objective is to reckon how America can defeat its terrorist foes
while preserving its own liberty. Throughout the Cold War,
Americans maintained a rough consensus on defense matters, despite
substantive disagreements. Unity did not require the suspension of
honest differences or of civilized political debate. But today's
fierce partisanship has reduced national politics to a gang war.
The constant maneuvering for narrow political advantage, the
rejection of criticism as disloyalty, the pursuit by interest
groups of their own exclusive agendas, and the radio, television,
newspaper, and Internet debates that thrive on provocation and
partisan zeal provide a poor platform for the difficult and
sustained effort that America faces. All of these trends imperil
the sense of community required to withstand the struggle ahead. We
don't need unanimity. We do need unity. Democracy is our strength.
Partisanship is our weakness...Excerpt from "Unconquerable Nation:
Knowing Our Enemy, Strengthening Ourselves". As the United States
battles a fierce insurgency in Iraq, pursues a tenacious Taliban
movement in Afghanistan, and wages a global campaign to dismantle
the jihadist terrorist enterprise responsible for 9/11, many
Americans are asking, "Where are we in this global struggle? Who
are we fighting? What are we fighting against? What are we fighting
for?" On the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Brian
Michael Jenkins presents a clear-sighted and sober analysis of
where we are today in the struggle against terrorism. An
internationally renowned authority on terrorism, Jenkins distills
the jihadists' operational code and suggests how they might assess
their situation very differently than how we might do so. He
outlines a ferociously pragmatic but principled approach that goes
beyond attacking terrorist networks and operational capabilities to
defeating their entire missionary enterprise by deterring their
recruitment, encouraging defections, and converting those in
captivity. Jenkins believes that homeland security should move
beyond gates and guards and become the impetus for rebuilding
America's decaying infrastructure. He advises Americans to adopt a
realistic approach to risk and get a lot smarter about security.
America needs to build upon its traditions of determination and
self-reliance and, above all, preserve its commitment to American
values of democracy, civil freedom, and individual liberties.
Preserving these values is no mere matter of morality, he argues;
it is a strategic imperative. How we deal with the terrorist threat
is one of the major challenges of this century. Jenkins points the
way forward.
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