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Analysis: Rethinking Counterterrorism

Council on Foreign Relations

November 6, 2006
Prepared by: Eben Kaplan

“It seems like one lesson we would have learned from 9/11 is that you really need people who understand the enemy,” said Lawrence Wright, author of a new book about al-Qaeda, at a CFR meeting last month. His remarks represent just a small taste of the criticism leveled at American counterterrorism agencies, which since 9/11 have regularly grappled with the accusation that they lack the necessary skills and expertise to safeguard the United States. Days after Wright’s comments, for instance, the Washington Post revealed that only thirty-three of the FBI’s 12,000 agents have even limited Arabic language proficiency. A week later, the New York Times published an op-ed questioning counterterrorism agencies’ understanding of terrorists’ religious motivation. The author, Congressional Quarterly editor Jeff Stein, was dismayed to discover that most U.S. officials he interviewed could not answer simple questions about the differences between Sunnis and Shiites. In light of these accusations, a new Backgrounder examines some of the cultural and organizational challenges facing U.S. counterterrorism agencies.

A shortage of linguists and cultural experts presents a challenge to sectors of American society extending beyond the counterterrorism community. But when fighting what the White House contends is a “war,” understanding the enemy is essential. Bruce Hoffman, a counterterrorism expert at Georgetown University, recently told CFR.org in a Podcast that the Bush administration demonstrated improved understanding when it released an updated National Strategy for Combating Terrorism in September, which calls the conflict “both a battle of arms and a battle of ideas.”

Adjusting to this new kind of struggle has proven difficult for government agencies accustomed to playing established roles. The FBI’s mandate, for instance, has expanded to include domestic intelligence gathering as part of its counterterrorism role.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.