Good news: All terrorist groups eventually end. The bad news, alas,
is that the United States has the wrong counterterrorism strategy,
concludes a recent Rand Corp. study.
Researchers examined 648 terrorist groups that existed between 1968 and
2006. Most of those groups eventually disappeared either because they
joined the political process or because local police and intelligence
agencies arrested or killed key members. “Military force has rarely
been the primary reason for the end of terrorist groups, and few groups
within this time frame achieved victory,” the study said. “This has
significant implications for dealing with al Qaida and suggests
fundamentally rethinking post–9/11 U.S. counterterrorism strategy.”