Trump Doubles Down on Failed Counterterror Policy
The U.S. and allies need to deal with local grievances, which give Salafi-jihadi groups their opening.
President Trump’s counterterrorism strategy has amounted to doubling down on past failure. He has promised a full withdrawal of troops from Syria and a partial withdrawal from Afghanistan, the better to focus on directly attacking terror cells. That narrow definition of counterterrorism misses the real threat: the Salafi-jihadi movement, which continues to gain strength across the globe.
Salafi-jihadi groups—including al Qaeda, Islamic State, Boko Haram and al-Shabaab—are no longer the terror factions we recognize. While...