Has al-Qaeda lost? It's starting to look that way

You really trust anything the U.S. government says about Al Qaeda, whether its they don't exist or they are imploding?

government's record any too freaking great on that subject

 

So, how accurate was your statement in November 2002?

So, how accurate was your statement in November 2004?

So, how accurate was your statement in November 2006?

 

There's a lot of talk from politicians about "winning the war against terrorism," and I've never quite understood it. Terrorism isn't a country you can invade, take over the capitol and install your views. Terrorism is a series of violent random acts. They can be stopped in spurts by using intelligence, but if someone wants to strap a bomb to their chest and blow themselves up in a mall or a busy street corner, there's not much you can do.

Seems as though "victory" over terrorism is a day-to-day thing. Nobody blew themselves up and took 25 others with them today? You win. Someone sets off a car bomb and kills 30 the next day? You lose.

There is no absolute victory over terrorism.

 

To take it a step further, terrorism is also the inevitable result of occupation or corruption. The root causes of middle eastern terrorism are western occupation and corrupt governments widely seen as western puppet regimes (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.). That's not a value judgment on those perceptions; simply a statement on the common state of mind of many in the region.

Anywho, when your answer to a problem that starts with occupation and/or corruption is to occupy more, well, that's an inherently flawed policy. It's like building a wooden fence to keep the termites away.