NSC-68 and the Global War on Terrorism

While there have been many successes in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) U.S. momentum has been sapped due to the war in Iraq and the sheer number of missions included under the GWOT umbrella. While thousands diligently work and fight the GWOT there is no overarching plan which defines the threat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: O'Halloran, Michael A
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
COUNTERTERRORISM
GLOBAL
IRAQ
Military Operations, Strategy and Tactics
MILITARY PLANNING
MILITARY STRATEGY
MISSIONS
NATIONAL SECURITY
TERRORISM
THREATS
Unconventional Warfare
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
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Summary:While there have been many successes in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) U.S. momentum has been sapped due to the war in Iraq and the sheer number of missions included under the GWOT umbrella. While thousands diligently work and fight the GWOT there is no overarching plan which defines the threat and a course of action. Half a century ago the U.S. faced the similar issue of a rising threat--communism. NSC-68 a report to the National Security Council was a strategic level Mission Analysis that determined the ends, ways, and means of countering the communist threat and became the philosophical framework for waging the Cold War. This paper follows the spirit of NSC-68 in the hopes of shedding much needed light and direction on a conflict whose length will soon surpass that of U.S. involvement in World War II. Like its predecessor the answer for the current threat spans the breadth of the U.S. elements of national power and more than ever before will require unity of effort across the government if not the outright overhaul of a government still better organized to counter the communist threat originally envisioned by NSC-68.