Files
Download or Purchase (7.9 MB)
Document Type
Book
Publication Date
6-13-2014
Description
This Letort Paper proposes that actions, policies, and deeds—those of the U.S. Government and al-Qaeda—be leveraged as a means of delegitimizing al-Qaeda terrorist propaganda. Two chief fronts—changing deeds and challenging deeds—is proposed. Changing deeds requires that the United States carefully and systematically examine its own foreign and military policies and their specific consequences for the Arab and Muslim world. Challenging deeds comprises systematically countering with evidence and fact al-Qaeda’s two greatest propagandistic fabrications: that the United States is a crusader at war with Islam, and that al-Qaeda is the vanguard defender of a besieged and oppressed Muslim Umma. Provocative at times, and even controversial in its willingness to reconsider long-standing U.S. Government policies, this Letort Paper is adamant that it is not spin, empty platitudes, and “lipstick on pigs,” but actual deeds, that are our surest bet for defeating this ignoble adversary.
Citation Information
Kamolnick, Paul. (Author). 2014. Countering Radicalization and Recruitment to Al-Qaeda: Fighting the War of Deeds. Letort Papers. Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. ISBN: 9781584876212 https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=1205
Included in
American Politics Commons, International Relations Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, Terrorism Studies Commons, Theory, Knowledge and Science Commons
Copyright Statement
This publication is subject to Title 17, United States Code, Sections 101 and 105. It is in the public domain and may not be copyrighted. This document was originally published by the Strategic Studies Institute.