Sanctuary and Terror

In response to the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, the President - as Commander-in-Chief and authorized by Congress in Joint Resolution 23 -- ordered the armed forces of the United States into combat " to disrupt and defeat the global terror network and Al Qaeda." A new strategic paradigm was upon America. The war that was largely in the shadows now emerged as our central strategic landscape. For much of the last century, America's defense relied on the Cold War doctrines of deterrence and containment. In some cases, those strategies still apply. But new threats also require new thinking. Deterrence -- the promise of massive retaliation against nations -- means nothing against shadowy terrorist networks without any nation or citizens to defend. Containment is not possible when unbalanced dictators with weapons of mass destruction can deliver those weapons on missiles or secretly provide them to terrorist allies. The President concurrently signed a Presidential Finding that directed the armed forces and other government agencies (OGA) to use "all means necessary to destroy terrorist network operations and their leaders and The directive designated the Area of Responsibility (AOR) and placed Combatant Commander, U.S. Central Command, in command of all operations."