By Tom Clifford, Deputy Managing Editor
Dubai: Tactics being used in the war on terror are ineffective, according to a report by one of Britain's leading think tanks.
Six years on from 9/11, Al Qaida retains the capability to carry out major attacks, according to "Strategic Survey," a think tank based at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
The recent foiling of an alleged plot in Frankfurt as well as last summer's Heathrow bomb scare showed Al Qaida had major terror ambitions, Nigel Inkster the institute's director of transnational threats and political risks told Gulf News.
"The ideology of Al Qaida has taken root, it is a stronger 'brand' than it was before 9/11 and may take decades to eradicate," Inkster said.
"Despite the attrition it has suffered'' it retains the capacity to execute large-scale attacks," he added.
The report also called into question the tactics being used.
Tactical gains
"You have to fight smart as well as hard and it may be necessary to forego tactical gains for longer-term advantage,'' said Inkster, a former director of Britain's MI6 and a candidate for the organisation's top job three years ago.
"In Afghanistan for instance it may be better to rethink aerial bombing as it alienates local people.''
Many analysts have raised concerns that so-called strategic carpet bombing, inflicting heavy civilian casualties, just plays into the hands of the Taliban and makes it harder for Nato to win the hearts and minds campaign.
But bombs alone were not the answer Inkster insisted.
"We have to sit and think hard about the outcome we want. There are times when you have to fight but the ideological front, the battle for ideas, is just as important if not more so.
"We also have to take on the 'single narrative' theory,'' the belief that there is a single plot by non-Muslims to attack Muslims," he said.
The report places great emphasis on governments in Western and Muslim countries to "confront" extremist ideology that gives rise to Al Qaida.
"For six years the United States and its allies have been struggling to eliminate this threat and it is clear that they are not doing so," Inkster said.
