How to strengthen our political will against terrorist attacks

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From MSNBC:

[A]t least six explosions rocked [London] on Thursday, killing several people and wounding scores, in what police fear were attacks to coincide with leaders of the Group of Eight nations meeting in Scotland.

There are two things that terrorists want to accomplish when they perpetrate these acts:

1. Make life hell for the people, and
2. Split the allies apart from each other.

These two goals are closely linked, especially when the target is a democracy. In fact, this is what 4th generation warfare is all about: attacking the political will of the opponent.

What's the solution?

Some would say that you have to take the fight to the terrorists, i.e., the best defense is a good offense, you have to smoke them out of their holes, you have to get 'em dead or alive, etc. But the fact is, the enemy will almost always be weaker than you. They won't even try to fight you one-on-one, nor will they try to destroy your command, control and logistics capabilities.

They will fight to destroy your political will.

So in order to win that fight, we must strengthen not only our military capabilities, but also our political alliances. The art of statecraft, diplomacy and flexibility are more important today than ever before. The US-UK alliance must be strong; as must be our alliances with Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Far East. This means the exercising of strong leadership skills as well as the building of consensus.