US unveils strategy for 'long war' on terror
Afp, Washington
The US Defence Department on Friday unveiled a new strategy to beef up US special operations forces for a "long war" on terrorism and develop new ways to combat weapons of mass destruction. The four-year strategy review also called for the development of more conventional high-tech weapons -- from long-range strike weapons to unmannned drones -- as a hedge against "strategic uncertainty." Drafted as the United States fights the "war on terror" it declared after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the review reflects the Pentagon's view that future challenges are more likely to spring from adversaries like al-Qaeda than conventionally armed nations. "This war requires the US military to adopt unconventional and indirect approaches," the so-called Quadrennial Defence Review (QDR) said. "Currently, Iraq and Afghanistan are crucial battlegrounds, but the struggle extends far beyond their borders," it said. "With its allies and partners, the United States must be prepared to wage this war in many locations simultaneously for some years to come." However, the review called for no overall increases in the size of the ground forces, no cuts in large weapons programmes and no major change in the way the US military structures its forces. "This is not a new beginning and not a culmination of transformation," said Ryan Henry, the Pentagon official who coordinated the review. Instead, he said, "it is a snapshot in time along a continuum of transformation and one that's been reinforced by operational experience." The US military will still be sized to fight two major military campaigns near simultaneously, and to win one decisively by toppling an enemy regime. But it now must be prepared to fight a protracted irregular war like the one in Iraq, as well as another major military campaign near simultaneously. The QDR sets out four broad priorities: defeating terrorist networks, defending the United States, shaping the choices of countries at strategic crossroads, and combating the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The report singled out China, Russia and India as among the "countries at a strategic crossroads." Henry said the United States wants to be a partner in China's peaceful rise but also have the means to dissuade it from making the wrong choices. "We think China should have a military capability sufficient to meet its genuine security needs," Henry said. "How that is translated depends on what sort of country (it becomes) and how China is going to be contributing to world stability." The 2007 defence budget being submitted on Monday will include some funding requests inspired by the review.
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