InsideDefense (subscription only) is reporting that the Pentagon is establishing a high-level task force designed to marshal counterterrorism efforts across the defense bureaucracy, as part of a sweeping new reorganization of its policy directorate.
The Global War on Terrorism Task Force is expected to comprise as many as 20 experts drawn from across the Pentagon. It will provide a day-to-day focus on issues related to the U.S. military's fight against Islamic extremists around the world. These experts will periodically rotate and assist the defense secretary in dealing with a wide range of issues related to the war on terror -- from weapon system investments to contingency plans to public diplomacy.
"The organization will have a focus that is near term and operational and also long term, reaching out to the joint capability requirements [which influence weapon system needs] that we might need 10 to 15 years down the road," said a senior Pentagon official involved in crafting the new task force.
Defense Department officials involved in helping establish the charter for the new task force said it is the result of work conducted last year during the Quadrennial Defense Review, during which the Pentagon's leadership concluded the military required “new horizontal organizations” for the global war on terrorism.
While the final Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) report recommended further study of the issue, a January 13 briefing prepared by officials in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) concluded the global war on terror mission "is so complex that no single, expert organization can manage it end-to-end." So far, Pentagon officials have been mum on the new task force's specific charter.
However, the January briefing, which argued for establishing a task force, proposed a new organization that would establish measures of success and monitor their progress; ensure a unified Defense Department message to other parts of the federal government, international partners and adversaries; facilitate "rapid policy decisions during ongoing operations"; ensure "integration of combat and non-combat" considerations; and advise on the "probability of success of proposed uses of military" capabilities.
"Pentagon is establishing a high-level task force designed to marshal counterterrorism efforts across the defense bureaucracy, as part of a sweeping new reorganization of its policy directorate."
The text quoted looks suspiciously like a fragment of "bullshit bingo" game. Sorry, I'll believe in it when I see it.
The word "streamline" in teh header gave the game away, you know ;-)
Posted by: SnoopyTheGoon | Aug 30, 2006 at 09:10