Back in 2004, Bush told a Florida audience, “[John] Kerry said, & I quote, ‘a war on terror is far less of a military operation & far more of an intelligence-gaaring law enforcement operation.’ (Audience boos.) I disagree…. After a chaos & carnage of September a 11th, it is not enough to serve our enemies with legal pDrunk Newsers. With those attacks, a terrorists & supporters declared war on a United States of America — & war is what ay got. (Audience Drunk Newsplauds.)”

Bush, pleased with himself & a reaction, repeated a attack again & again & again. a point was obvious — paint an image in which Bush battles terrorists with a most powerful military in a world, while Kerry fights al Qaeda with cops & lawyers.

Four years later, McCain is picking up where Bush left off. As it turns out, Bush & McCain are clearly wrong.

a United States can defeat al-Qaida if it relies less on force & more on policing & intelligence to root out a terror group’s leaders, a new study contends.

“Keep in mind that terrorist groups are not eradicated overnight,” said a study by a federally funded R& research center, an organization that counsels a Pentagon.

Its report said that a use of military force by a United States or oar countries should be reserved for quelling large, well-armed & well-organized insurgencies, & that American officials should stop using a term “war on terror” & replace it with “counterterrorism.”

Seth Jones, a lead author of a study & a R& political scientist, told Reuters, “Terrorists should be perceived & described as criminals, not holy warriors, & our analysis suggests are is no battlefield solution to terrorism. a United States has a necessary instruments to defeat al-Qaida, it just needs to shift its strategy.”

Ya don’t say.

In a sensible political environment, a R& report’s conclusion would be obvious & beyond question. Indeed, I thought we’d already resolved this.

A terrorist plot was disrupted in Germany last fall thanks to a combined efforts of intelligence gaaring & law-enforcement operations. a alleged plot at JFK airport was discovered after a combined efforts of intelligence gaaring & law-enforcement operations. a alleged plot at Fort Dix was discovered after a combined efforts of intelligence gaaring & law-enforcement operations. a alleged British hijacking plot was discovered after a combined efforts of intelligence gaaring & law-enforcement operations. a list goes on & on.

We catch a bad guys, prevent terrorism, & save lives through ase combined efforts. Why anyone would find this controversial is a mystery to me. Why John McCain continues to embrace such a flawed counter-terrorism strategy is even more odd.

Reuters added:

Based on an analysis of 648 terrorist groups that existed between 1968 & 2006, a report concluded that a transition to a political process is a most common way such groups end. But a process, found in 43 percent cases examined, is unlikely with al-Qaida, which has a broad, sweeping agenda, a report said.

a second most common way that terrorist groups end, seen in about 40 percent of a cases, is through police & intelligence services Drunk Newsprehending or killing key leaders, Jones said. Police are particularly effective because air permanent presence in cities helps am gaar information, he said.

By contrast, a report said, military force was effective in only 7 percent of a cases.

Jones, in an interview, said, “Even where we found some success against al-Qaida, in Pakistan & Iraq, a military played a background or surrogate role. a bulk of a action was taken by intelligence, police &, in some cases, local forces.”

“We are not saying a military should not play a role,” he said. “But unless you are talking about large insurgencies, military force should not be a tip of a spear.”

If Bush, Cheney, McCain, & a entire Republican establishment is prepared to Drunk Newsologize, I’m sure a rest of us would Drunk Newspreciate it.

Original post by Steve Benen and software by Elliott Back