Report today from a leading think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (whom I would kill to work for in a research capacity), that Al-Qaida has not been affected by the so-called war on terror as much as was intended. I think most intelligent people made that assumption 4-5 years ago when the US went into Iraq. I know I certainly thought it.
I’m not taking anything away from what they’re saying. I respect them very, very much as noted above. I’m just saying this report is confirmation of what a lot of people have been thinking for a long time.
It seems to me that Al-Qaida is like a hornet’s nest or a wasp. You think by spraying it with bug spray you’ll kill it but half the time that little spritz only enrages it and it comes back at you with a vengeance. You have to literally coat the sucker in spray until it is completely white before it even starts to sputter and die. Unfortunately there is no military equivalent to this act. Al-Qaida and Islamic fundamentalism are too far-spread and wide-ranging for any war to ever affect it to the extent needed to kill it.
A great comedian (don’t remember who) once said you cannot declare war on a noun. It will never succeed. Examples include the war on drugs, war on poverty and now the war on terror.