It is impossible for the US to win the War on Terror if we continue down the path we're on.

[MadHound]

The simple fact of the matter is that the War on Terror is a War of Ideas, our philosophy vs. the philosophy of the Taliban, al Qaeda and other such extremists. We have made the mistake of bringing our military to this War of Ideas, which means that we simply cannot win.

You don't win a War of Ideas with bombs and bullets, you have to look no further than Vietnam, or Ireland to see the truth of that. Killing people will not kill an idea. You win a War of Ideas by bringing a better idea to the table. At one time, back during our own revolution(incidentaly, where we too were referred to as terrorists), we understood this. That too was a War of Ideas, and our idea won.

A War of Ideas is not like a traditional war. There is no territory to occupy, there is no capital to capture. Rather it is a war for the hearts and minds of a population. The authors of that seminal work, "The Ugly American" understood this perfectly well. One of the main characters, Atkins, states that the only way to win the war was to make sure that every crate of humanitarian aid, every building constructed, every bit of food had "Made in USA" stamped prominently on it.

A recent survey of Afghans found that 92% don't know about 9/11, the nominal reason we're in Afghanistan. All they know is that the US is pounding the hell out of them, killing their friends and family, destroying their country. This isn't going to win this War of Ideas, in fact it is going to insure that we lose. The only way we can win this War of Ideas is to actually practice the ideology that we like to preach. Withdraw our military, and start pouring in humanitarian aid. Stop the killing and start the healing. Don't walk away from Afghanistan, but instead devote years and millions towards rebuilding the country.

In this War of Ideas, this War on Terror, every bullet we fire, every person we kill creates another terrorist. Families and friends of the dead don't understand why we're shooting at them, just that we're killing them and destroying their country. Such violence radicalizes the people we commit that violence against, so they too will take up the gun, the bomb, and march off to war against us. We continue to create more and more enemies.

The War on Terror is not a war against a state, there is no land to occupy, no capital to capture. We occupy Afghanistan, and the terrorists move to Pakistan. We occupy Pakistan, and they move to Yemen, or the Sudan, or Somalia. Are we going to continue to move around the globe, invading countries, chasing terrorists, and in the process laying waste to sovereign nations? That way lies eternal war, which could very well be what the MIC wants, eternal war for eternal profits.

The US now is regarded as, at best, a loose cannon by the rest of the world. At worst, we are regarded with fear and loathing. If we want to win the War on Terror, win this War of Ideas, we have to change that perception. We have to show the world that we are indeed a kind and generous people. That we are a nation that believes in the rule of law and helping the less fortunate. We have to show the world that we do indeed have the Better Idea.

Otherwise we will lose this War on Terror, this War of Ideas. We won't be conquered or killed, rather we will simply continue to pour our resources and treasure into the black hole of never ending warfare, and collapse from within.

[dipsydoodle]

1. Chances are that 92%

of the US public have no idea whatsoever of the US's past antics either. For example - pick someone at random and ask what they know about Guatemala 1950's. That was when the Dulles Bros , SOS and head of the CIA, helped instigate a coup to remove Guatemala's democratically elected government and in doing protect their, the Dulles Bros, interests in the United Fruit Company.

[WinkyDink]

2. Red Brigades; Baader-Meinhof; Black September; Carlos; etc. It's not like terrorism is new.

Except to Americans, who recoil from learning of the past.

[notesdev]

3. We never could win it

As the definition of "terrorism" AND the application of the definition are both subjective, to win we would have to somehow be able to stop people from being afraid. And that's not going to happen in the context of a security state, which just makes people more afraid.

Moreover, an actual war needs specific objectives, and this war has none.

Whatever happened to "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"? That's the kind of approach taken by a REAL leader in a REAL war.

This "war" was a sham all along, and designed to do two things - secure foreign energy supplies, and secure an endless money stream for the defense industry.

[damyank913]

5. No actual objectives!!?!?...

Now these folks have "freedom and democracy". Oh yeah, and unobstructed capitalism.

[ixion]

4. there is no such thing as a 'win' in a war against an abstraction.

It is endless by design, without every even the slightest possibility of 'winning'.

[socialist_n_TN]

8. +1

"It is endless by design...." :thumbsup:

[mountainlion55]

6. We are the EVIL empire!

No different than the ancient Egyptians the Romans the Ottomans ect. If you do not know history you are doomed to repeat it.

[Dj13Francis]

7. The path we're on?

It never was possible to win the "war on terror".

This is a war that was never meant to be won.

It's all about pretext for continued war. And the war continues to this day and for the foreseeable future. All for nothing but the enrichment of the warmongers. Sad.

Sad that pretty much everyone buys into and reinforces their narrative about "winning" the unwinnable war on terror.

www.davidjamesfrancis.com

[Mr. Jefferson]

9. A war can be won without civilian casualties.

Thousands of German and Japanese civilians died during WW II. And when the war was over, it was over.

[wingzeroday]

10. darkest protoman

All you need to do is walk beside me.


You have looked.

But you have not seen.

[NNN0LHI]

11. Why sure we can win the war on terrorism. Right after we win the wars on drugs, poverty and cancer

Oops, almost forget the war in Christmas.

Don