WASHINGTON: The US National Military Strategy, revised for the first time in seven years, vows to expand security cooperation with Pakistan and enable it to defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies operating in the region.
Released by the Pentagon, the 2011 statement reaffirms US resolve to curb violent extremism and calls for redefining leadership in a changing world.
"We will continue to erode Taliban influence, work with the Afghan government to facilitate reintegration and reconciliation of former insurgents, continue to strengthen the capacity of Afghan security forces, and enable Pakistan to ultimately defeat al Qaida and its extremist allies," says the document.
The release of the document marks the first revision since 2004. It is a broad statement on ways and means that the military emphasizes to advance US national security interests. It builds on the 2010 National Security Strategy and the objectives in the latest Quadrennial Defense Review.
"We will expand our military security cooperation, exchanges, and exercises with the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore, and other states in Oceania coworking with them to address domestic and common foreign threats to their nation's integrity and security," the document says in the broader regional perspective.
The national strategy notes that NATO will remain America's "preeminent multilateral alliance and continue to drive our defense relations with Europe. The Joint Force will continue to cooperate to combat violent extremism, focusing on our mission in Afghanistan and support to Pakistan."
In the counter violent extremism perspective, the statement stresses "there are no more vital interests than the security of the American people, our territory, and our way of life."
"This is why we are at war in South Central Asia, the epicenter of violent extremism. Afghanistan is where al Qaida, given sanctuary by the Taliban, planned the attacks that murdered more than 3,000 innocent people on 11 September 2001."
The document claims that "al Qaida senior leadership remains in Pakistan and intends to continue to attack the United States, allies, and our partners." However, Pakistan had always denied this claim.
"The Nation's strategic objective in this campaign is to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaida and its affiliates in Afghanistan and Pakistan and prevent their return to either country. Success requires the Joint Force to closely work with NATO, our coalition partners, Afghanistan, and Pakistan."
However, the documents make it clear that the threat of violent extremism is not limited to South Central Asia.
Terrorists' abilities to remotely plan and coordinate attacks is growing, sometimes facilitated by global illicit trafficking routes, extending their operational reach while rendering targeting of their sanctuaries more difficult, it observes.
"Undeterred by the complexity of terrorist networks and in concert with our allies and partners, we will be prepared to find, capture, or kill violent extremists wherever they reside when they threaten interests and citizens of America and our allies."
While such operations disrupt in the short-term, they cannot be decisive and do not constitute a viable long-term strategy for combating extremism, it notes.
"We must continue to support and facilitate whole-of-nation approaches to countering extremism that seek and sustain regional partnerships with responsible states to erode terrorists' support and sources of legitimacy. Military power complements economic development, governance, and rule of law, the true bedrocks of counterterrorism efforts. In the long run, violent ideologies are ultimately discredited and defeated when a secure population chooses to reject extremism and violence in favor of more peaceful pursuits."
The Pentagon strategy also seeks "expanded military cooperation with India on nonproliferation, safeguarding the global commons, countering terrorism, and elsewhere."
Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in the strategy: "Our military power is most effective when employed in support and in concert with other elements of power as part of whole-of-nation approaches to foreign policy.
"This strategy is designed to meet the expectations of the American people that their military reflect the best of this great nation at home and abroad."
Changing leadership in this whole-of-nation concept is key to the strategy. "This strategy acknowledges the need for military leadership that is redefined for an increasingly complex strategic environment," it says. Military leadership will emphasize mutual responsibility and respect and will require a full spectrum of leadership approaches" facilitator, enabler, convener and guarantor, the Pentagon said.
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