Serpent in Our Garden
Al-Qa-ida and the Long War
Description:... The terrorist attacks of 9/11 caused Americans to realize that our sense of invincibility had been shattered. This paper will identify Al-Qa ida and Salafi-Jihadists as our enemy and will recommend new approaches to fighting terrorism. I will explore Al-Qa'ida's organization, leaders, doctrine and their radical ideologies. I will argue that the war we must fight is one against Islamist transnational actors who openly engage in terrorism or support terrorism. I will highlight that our current National and Military Strategies to combat terrorism are inadequate to take on an ideologically emboldened transnational foe. I will emphasize that we must refocus our efforts and prepare to fight a war of several generations (long war) and will recommend several initiatives to include development of a cogent Grand National Strategy. These recommendations are intended to assist future planners in the development of a Grand National Strategy and an integrated long war campaign plan aimed directly at Al-Qa ida, the Al-Qa ida Associated Movement, and Islamist terrorists and executed through the application of diplomatic, informational, military and economic instruments of national power by an unified interagency effort in coordination with our multinational partners, international governmental and non-governmental organizations and regional security organizations.
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