Countering violent extremist narratives
Type
Publication
Authors
Category
Publication Year
2010
Publisher
National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Netherlands
Pages
10p
Subject
Extremism, Security, USA, Government
Abstract
As the United States continues to fight militarily to disrupt the efforts of al-Qaeda and its affiliates, the U.S.
government has slowly come to the realisation that military force alone cannot defeat violent extremism.
There has been increased recognition that capturing and killing all terrorists is not a realistic strategy, and
that we must spend more time understanding how and why individuals are becoming terrorists. Former
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld posed this fundamental question in an infamous 2003 memorandum,
asking ‘Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas
and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?’2
At the time, however, there was
little genuine focus in the U.S. government on determining the answer to this difficult question.
government has slowly come to the realisation that military force alone cannot defeat violent extremism.
There has been increased recognition that capturing and killing all terrorists is not a realistic strategy, and
that we must spend more time understanding how and why individuals are becoming terrorists. Former
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld posed this fundamental question in an infamous 2003 memorandum,
asking ‘Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas
and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?’2
At the time, however, there was
little genuine focus in the U.S. government on determining the answer to this difficult question.
Description
10 p.; 29 cm
Number of Copies
1