Choose Your Battlefield and Kill with a Borrowed Knife: Al Qaida's Catalyst Strategy

摘要

This essay will take the reader through the emergence of Al Qaida's Catalyst Strategy, in order to identify al Qaida's objectives and center of gravity, offering perspectives on how to defeat him. Ultimately, it is our political and military leaders that must be capable of identifying and maintaining the military strategic aim throughout any war. I often ask myself, 'is, al Qaida's understanding of us better than our understanding of them.' It is an interesting thought to ponder. If a misunderstanding of al Qaida and the problems he presents in Afghanistan causes a failure in the attainment of our strategic endstate, the US political and military leaders must analyze, assess and reframe the problem in order to identify new operational goals. This paper attempts to accomplish that end.