Denying Sanctuary

Abstract

Since the findings of the 9/11 Commission were released in July of 2004, U.S. counterterrorism policy proffered a strategy to preemptively "attack terrorists and their organizations." Al Qaeda is responsible for the devastating attacks on the United States on 9/11. Due to U.S. military operations to oust Al Qaeda from the sanctuary provided by the Taliban in Afghanistan in October of 2001, several of its senior leaders fled and remain at large in the sanctuary of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan. Denying sanctuary in the FATA is a national priority critical to regional stability and global security. However, the United States' zeal to capture or kill the high-profile personalities responsible for the 9/11 attacks has led to well-intended, but misappropriated resources and separate agency plans. These plans focus on targeting individuals as the way to defeat this global insurgency rather than targeting the strategic pillars of terrorist organizations and transnational insurgencies: ideology, external support, and sanctuary. Insurgent groups, terrorist organizations, and criminals all require time, space, and opportunity to carry out their essential organizational functions. Sanctuary provides those requirements, and an analysis of insurgencies in history reveals that the centerpiece of any successful counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign is denying sanctuary. Three case studies are analyzed to determine the common operational elements of sanctuary and the COIN methods that were used to deny sanctuary in each case. These operational elements are then applied to the FATA to examine the role that sanctuary provides to the many insurgencies that reside there. Neither the U.S. Government nor the Government of Pakistan is sufficiently addressing the operational elements of sanctuary in Pakistan. The author contends that a whole-of-international-community approach must be taken to reduce the operational elements of sanctuary provided by the FATA.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA530218

Entities

People

  • Tim Szymanaki

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Military History
  • Military Operations
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • Urban Areas
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Space