combating terrorism and its implications for the security sector - DCAF

military actions to destroy terrorists and regimes that harbor them; and
covert operations by intelligence services.
The essence of combating terrorism can be found in the many strategies
existing. 171 Most contain comparable content to the U.S. National
Strategy for Combating Terrorism, 172 which claims leadership in the
worldwide effort and is the most offensively oriented. For the United
States, the best defense is an aggressive offense, in which traditional
counterterrorism, antiterrorism, intelligence collection, and covert action
are seamlessly integrated. All strategies seek to create a global environment
hostile to all terrorist groups, whether they operate globally,
regionally, or within the boundaries of a single state. They provide
guidance to orchestrate all instruments of national power while coordinating
the collective efforts of the international community. The end
state of the strategies is invariably a world free of terrorism as an instrument
of societal change and a global environment in which terrorism
can not flourish again.
Since the fight against terrorism requires a multidimensional, multinational
approach aimed at the entire spectrum of terrorism, the strategies
call upon states, international and regional organizations, private
and public entities, and individuals to collaborate in combating terrorism
at all levels simultaneously. The UN should lead the effort while facilitating
regional responses and assisting individual partner states. The
goal is to reduce terrorism to a level at which it can be combated as
mere crime.
All strategies place primary responsibility on sovereign states that
have jurisdiction over terrorist activities within their borders. Many
states are well equipped to combat terrorism. Others are weak and require
assistance. A few are ambivalent or reluctant and require motivation.
Some states still support or sponsor terrorists and must be compelled
to stop. Thus the UN, NATO, and the EU, as well as the United
States encourage all societies to pool diplomatic, informational, military,
and economic capabilities to defeat terrorist organizations wherever
they exist, deter future acts of terrorism, and ultimately diminish
the underlying causes of terrorism through a concerted effort at the global,
regional, and sovereign-state levels. At the same time, individual
states are called upon to provide defense for their citizens at home and
abroad.
171 Issued by the UN, NATO, the European Council in May 2004, and other international
and regional organizations as well as by individual states.
172 National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, February 2003.
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