Rendering: week 8: Three Wars on Terror: Ronald Reagan and the battle for Obama's strategie soul

Ronald Reagan and the battle for Obama's strategiс soul

The article which was published in the "Foreign Policy" by John Arquilla is called "Ronald Reagan and the battle for Obama's strategiс soul", from the 10th of September, 2012. It reports at length that there are two different wars on terror. One of them was being led by Ronald Reagan, though the other is still has been waging by Barak Obama.

It's an open secret that after the October 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 242 Americans R. Reagan and his close advisers became deeply concerned about the terrorism problem.
Speaking of his policy against terrorism it's necessary to note that President Reagan signed National Security Decision Directive 138 - called for "Secret FBI and CIA paramilitary squads and use of existing Pentagon military units - such as Green Berets and Navy SEAL's - for conducting what amounted to guerrilla war against guerrillas...a de facto declaration of war."

It's very likely that signal success of this first war on terror came in a campaign against the Abu Nidal Organization - the al-Qaeda of the 80s - which was conducting terrorist hits for hire on behalf of Iraq, Libya and Syria. But it's very unlikely that the Pentagon preferred more conventional uses of forces - like the massive air raid on Libya in 1986 in retaliation for the bombing of a Berlin discotheque frequented by GI's.

Analyzing the situation in Barack Obama police it's necessary to emphasize that he is leading his campaign is with a skillful mix of subtlety and ferocity. There is a general feeling to believe that Qaddafi was taken down when Obama engineered and enabled a NATO air campaign that began by preventing a slighter of innocents in Benghazi.

Giving appraisal of the situation it's necessary to point out that Secretary of State George Shultz called a Saturday meeting of terrorism experts, led by Brian Jenkins of the RAND Corporation, and the tem brainstormed until a strategy emerged, one that called for something that strongly resembles the kind of campaign that Obama is now pursuing.

The article concludes by saying that in the battle for Reagan's Strategic soul, the conventional thinkers won out because they convinced hive that there was for too much of the "dark side" in the Shultz-inspired plan. In the battle for Barack Obama's strategiс soul, the "overwhelming force" approach hasn't yet carried the day - and with luck it won't.
Personally I think it maters how to fight against terrorism, so fighters have to choose such methods which don't disturb civilians.