Dear Friends of IWP:
The demise of Osama bin Laden hopefully brings a measure of closure to the many Americans who lost loved ones on 9/11. A murderous and evil man has been brought to justice and the cause of Islamist terrorism has been struck a major blow. We send our deepest thanks to the men and women of our intelligence services and special operations forces who carried out the operation with such skill and professionalism.
But Bin Laden’s death is not the end of the conflict against al Qaeda and its allies. It is wishful thinking to believe that those who have signed up under his banner will be cowed by his death. The unfortunate reality is that their hatred will likely be driven to new heights.
We must continue to realize that this is not only a war involving intelligence and military operations: it is at base a war of ideas and information which will not end until Bin Laden’s ideology and propaganda are defeated and his confederates are left incapable of attracting new recruits committed to the murder of innocents.
This means that our government must have a capacity to conduct the war at this political-ideological-informational level – a capacity which IWP is virtually alone in providing. Let us hope the fact that Bin Laden can no longer personally spread his ideological message will be an important step in bringing this war to an end.
As we at IWP set about with renewed vigor to educate leaders with an understanding of all the tools of national power, we thank you for all your friendship and support for our work.
With much appreciation,
John Lenczowski
John Lenczowski
Founder and President
The Institute of World Politics
1521 16th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202)462-2101
www.iwp.edu