Merchant of Death
Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible

Blood from Stones

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The Generational War
It is not a popular thing to say in public circles, but there is a growing awareness of the the nature of the Islamist threat to the United States and the West in the Pentagon and elsewhere.

In an interview with the Washington Times, Brig. Gen. Mark O. Schissler, deputy director for the war on terrorism within the strategic plans office of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, stated that the enemy is "absolutely committed to the 50-. 100-year plan" to establish a caliphate.

This is not news. But this type of public assessment has been sorely lacking since 9-11. People in the Intelligence Community here and abroad, who read the _jihadi_ literature and pay attention to what they say, know this. But there has been an extreme reluctance to make this case publicly and constantly, so people are aware of not only what the stakes are but of the need for an over-arching, long-term strategy.

There is very little work being done in looking at the 10 to 20 year horizon on where Islamists are now, where they are moving and what the potential future threats and opportunities are for moving against them. Almost everything in the Pentagon and IC are geared to the 3 to 5 year horizon. In real terms, this is extremely short.

Most of the thinking that does exit over longer periods are for the military component-that is, where to have troops, where to be prepared to deploy, what the direct military threats can be.

While this is necessary, it is not a strategic plan to counter the Islamist plan and agenda. There is no real public diplomacy component that is functioning, no way to reach out to the moderate Arab and Islamic world without burning them to a crisp on contact.

Furthermore there is no real understanding now of where the _jihadis_ are, what their relative strength in different regions is, how the Sunni and Shia groups cooperate and compete in different areas of the world, no map of the infrastructure of NGOS and mosques. This is a huge setback after 5 years.

Knowing the order of battle of the enemy, in any war, is crucial. We do not know the order of battle of our enemies. At least we are now willing to say they have a plan to carry out, and we better get one too.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
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