http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080731/ts_nm/usa_military_report_dc_1;_ylt=AjDv cYRgkhIthcsUaOg5s_wTv5UB
Terrorism focus of new U.S. military strategy: report Wed Jul 30, 11:52 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month approved a new National Defense Strategy that recommends making fighting al Qaeda and other militant groups the top military priority in coming decades, the Washington Post reported in Thursday editions. The document, which has been shared with U.S. lawmakers but not published, calls for the military to master "irregular" warfare rather than focusing on conventional conflicts with other states, said the newspaper. "Iraq and Afghanistan remain the central fronts in the struggle, but we cannot lose sight of the implications of fighting a long-term, episodic, multi-front, and multi-dimensional conflict more complex and diverse than the Cold War confrontation with communism," the Post quoted the 23-page document as saying. "Success in Iraq and Afghanistan is crucial to winning this conflict, but it alone will not bring victory," it said. Since taking office in late 2006, Gates has departed from his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld's focus on preemptive military action, instead encouraging cooperation with other countries to eliminate conditions that breed extremism, the newspaper said. "The use of force plays a role, yet military efforts to capture or kill terrorists are likely to be subordinate to measures to promote local participation in government and economic programs to spur development, as well as efforts to understand and address the grievances that often lie at the heart of insurgencies," the document said. "For these reasons, arguably the most important military component of the struggle against violent extremists is not the fighting we do ourselves, but how well we help prepare our partners to defend and govern themselves." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
