Jesuit Approach To Terrorism? For Fordham Grad

Obama's detractors describe the new approach to counter-terrorism as the Jesuit approach. Will it succeed? Obama and Brennan want to give the new policy a try, writes security expert B Raman

John O Brennan, a former career intelligence officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, who now functions as President Barack Obama's [ Images ] Assistant for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, has in two interactions on August 5 and 6, unveiled the first details of what will be the counter-terrorism doctrine of the Obama Administration.

The first interaction on August 5, was with a select group of Washington-based journalists. The second on August 6 was in the form of a presentation before the Centre For Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC.

The new policy as outlined by him will be a mix of hard and soft power, the professional and political options and treating terrorism as a threat and at the same time as a phenomenon, which requires a multi-dimensional approach. He was critical of attempts to make the entire foreign policy hostage to counter-terrorism. It will no more be a war on terror as projected by the previous administration of George W Bush [ Images ]. Instead, it will be a campaign against terrorism.

The Washington Post on August 6 quoted him as saying during his interaction with the media: "It (counter-terrorism) needs to be much more than a kinetic effort, an intelligence, law enforcement effort. It has to be much more comprehensive. This is not a 'war on terror'. We cannot let the terror prism guide how we're going to interact and be involved in different parts of the world."

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