Shift Focus on the Al Qaeda Network: A More Comprehensive Approach to Defeating

The Al Qaeda Network is a global insurgency; however, the United States and much of the western world continue to identify it as a "global terrorist organization." This improper label misleads planners at both the strategy development level and the operational level. As a result, the national strategy and operational approach are not properly focused. By ignoring the fact that the Al Qaeda Network is a global insurgency using terrorist tactics, the U.S. limits its ability to develop a holis...