This is from a textbook that is being used in several criminal justice programs around the U.S.
"Record shows that the use of military force is rarely successful at stopping terrorism over time, since it tends to drive existing groups even further underground, can lock a government into an unproductive tit-for-tat escalation with terrorist , and can increase international alienation against the United States. Dramatic cruise missile attacks, for example, can inflame public opinion in some third world countries (and even among some of our allies), affirming the belief that the United States takes too much unilateral action and has too much international sway. The ironic result can be an overall increase in political sympathy for the terrorist or their cause.
In practical terms moreover, the use of military force has become more difficult because of evolutions in the threat. Terrorist groups are increasingly amorphous, more likely to use evolving information technologies and to rely less upon traditional organizational structures, thus making it much harder to find targets to attack militarily. Sometimes perpertrators come together temporarily only for the purpose of attacking a target, as was the case in the first World Trade Center bombing.
Unfortunately however, military force is often used because it is the most immediate, demonstrable way to respond to an outrageous event. Law enforcement is the best way to build a foundation of homeland security and to develop international cooperation over time."
Terrorism: Research, Readings and Realities. Lynne L. Snowden, Bradley C. Whitsel. (2005)
