Two studies just placed online by the U.S. Army's awkwardly named Combating Terrorism Center suggest strategies by which the United States can defeat Islamist terrorist organizations. Neither paper suggests staying the course. One study, Stealing Al-Qa'ida's Playbook, argues that"direct engagement with the United States has been good for the jihadi movement," and offers this warning about horses and barn doors:"The United States should avoid direct, large-scale military action in the Middle East."

PDF files of the studies are available at the CTC website. Here is Stealing Al-Qa'ida's Playbook, and here is Harmony and Disharmony:
Exploiting Al-Qa'ida's Organizational Vulnerabilities. The first is far shorter, and takes about fifteen minutes to read.

Chris Bray - 3/6/2006

Yes, and my bad for highlighting the other -- I was assuming a readership with limited time. For anyone who's interested, here's some useful background on the other report.

mark safranski - 3/4/2006

"The first is far shorter, and takes about fifteen minutes to read."

And is a lot less useful than the second.

Chris Bray - 3/4/2006

Thanks for pointing that one out. Well worth the time.

Manan Ahmed - 3/4/2006

This oped by an Indian officer who worked in Kashmir is worth reading