The same resources, I think, could have been employed much more productively in directly targeting Al Qaida leaders, momey sources, knocking out camps from long distance, etc.
Last time I checked this was pretty much what we've done. We certainly have directly targeted Al Queda leaders, caught some and killed some. We didn't get Bin Laden yet, but it isn't over. By all accounts significant progress has been made in dealing with money sources as well. Camps have been knocked out.
we have spent a lot of money and will spend a lot more pacifying the country, we have incited many fundamentalist Muslims, particularly Pakistanis, to join the Al Qaida cause, our military is preoccupied wth a virtually endless task.
I believe the administration made it abundantly clear at the outset that this was a long-term proposition. I've seen no credible evidence that Al Queda membership is flourishing. Killing terrorists is clearly a difficult task; the cellular organization makes it, as you say, a "virtually endless task". It has to be done, and I'm not sure what the alternative is.
Overall, minimal gain as far as I can see.
It is clear that we have substantially disrupted Al Queda's ability to further damage us. Not to say there isn't that possibility, but it has been significantly eroded.
Overall, I'd have to give the United States a high B for its handling of the war on terrorism. |
