Before Abbottabad: hunting AQ leaders (merged thread)

[slapout9]

From an LE standpoint it was one of the worst possible things we could have done along with GWOT. The war on drugs, the war on crime, the war on poverty were and are political slogans that set you up to loose. The moment you call it a war it implies an enemy and a victory date, none of which is going to happen in the long war. Which is why we should call them global law enforcement operations or something like that. Take the wining and loosing part out of the equation. You need to position him (OBL) as a psyco-mass murderer of all people, not a War Hero which is exactly what you do when you call it a War. When you call him a criminal the capture date is left open because people are used to seeing the effort and time required to catch people like serial killers in our country, but they also see that you never close the case until he is caught or killed by us or someone else. My2.5 cents.

[Steve Blair]

The only issue I see with labeling him a criminal is that you then get into that odd position of having to "arrest" him (at least according to MSM criteria), "try" him, and so on. It creates a whole new level of expectations that may not be at all suited to the situation at hand.

I have mixed feelings about calling it a global law enforcement operation. Not sure why, but it just doesn't sit right.

[slapout9]

Steve, no doubt the name sucks, I just couldn't think of anything else. Key word is try to arrest, no requirment to be stupid and it dosen't mean you don't use military forces.
Remember the man from U.N.C.L.E.? United Network Command for Law and Enforement. See we already had a TV show about it.

[Steve Blair]

Yeah, slap, I remember that show. Interesting stuff....

But what gets me with LEO-type stuff is that the media jumps on it and acts like you should be replaying "Dragnet," complete with reading the rights and all that. It's the outside spin that comes with it that tends to drive me nuts.

[slapout9]

Steve, if we could pull it off there is real I/O merit in that SOB in handcuffs and have his rights read to him before we give him a fair trial and hang him But to go to the straight military side we had a manual and a concept called MOOTW military Operations Other Than "War" which is exactly what need to call it, but we dumped that for some reason??

[Steve Blair]

Yeah, the whole name game is enough to drive someone nuts. MOOTW was interesting, but so is small wars.... Perhaps Leveraged Actions with Synergistic Termination (LAST) or Controlled Utilization of National Termination Systems (you can do the acronym for that one, lest I be banned to the Club) might make some wordsmiths happy....

But with LE you get into that whole legal loophole question, and that tends to make me nervous. I agree with the SOB in handcuffs image, but in this day and age it also conjures up images of certain gloves that didn't fit. But what the hell, right? We all have our little word preferences.

[jcustis]

Additionally when he does go down, some will think it is all over and be further discouraged when it is not.

The irhabists stand to win when he does go down. They have their martyr who defied the mighty US and did it for a long time.

I guess this speaks to the necessity to have a message ready now, loaded and cocked. I'd personally like to see him de-mystified and put down as a low-lying cretin. There needs to be a full-court press that he died on the run, cowering like a frightened child, and not some bold entity.

I'm surprised that most of those who praise Che and wear his t-shirt don't realize that he died dirty, starved, and certainly not some valiant warrior.

[slapout9]

The legal loopholes would not be as big a problem as we think if it was done right. Just like with Noriaga in Panama was taken under special warrants and tried in a non public way. We could do the same for OBL and everyone in AQI don't just stop with him.

[carl]

I agree with slapout on the disadvantages of declaring "war" on everything.

I think Americans aren't as tolerant or patient as in the past. There is also a tendency to equate lack of immediate result with lack of legitmacy. By putting OBL front and center we set ourselves up for discouragement that it is taking so long along with doubts whether the effort against the irhabists should be made at all.

Additionally when he does go down, some will think it is all over and be further discouraged when it is not.

The irhabists stand to win when he does go down. They have their martyr who defied the mighty US and did it for a long time.