Demilitarising the 'war on terror'

The elimination of Afghanistan as al-Qaeda's physical base in 2001 hastened the dispersal of global jihadists into cities. In turn, the advent of Iraq as a field of jihad has prompted jihadists to refine and spread urban warfare techniques. If they choose to apply these techniques robustly to infiltrated cities elsewhere, the extraordinary need for special-operations forces - superseding the Western taboo on using a nation's military forces against its own citizens within its own territory - could arise. The US Department of Defense appears inclined to believe that the application of military power - albeit unconventional military power - will ultimately dictate victory. Such an attitude could lead to the downplaying of paramount non-military aspects of counter-terrorism, to the detriment of national and international security. If the US State Department were armed with a mandate to coordinate national counter-terrorism efforts, diplomatic, political, law-enforcement and intelligence efforts against terrorism would gain momentum and coherence.