Talking Points Memo is the first place I saw a reference to President Bush saying we can't win the War on Terror. I'm not surprised we can't win; I'm surprised that he said it. They've since had to do some repair work, and I can see the point they're making. If there is to be any victory, it won't be a traditional victory. The President has said before that we can win the War on Terror, but I didn't believe it then either.
Terrorism is a tactic. You can't extinguish a tactic the same way you can carpet bomb a country. If we did succeed in neutralizing every terrorist on Earth, there's nothing to stop someone else from adopting terrorist tactics.
The War on Terror is like the War on Drugs. It's unending, and its purpose, in my opinion, is to grant the government powers it wouldn't have otherwise. The world is growing more comfortable with drugs, and so the War on Drugs is no longer important enough for people to accept giving up their civil liberties for it. The War on Terror is the new War designed to scare people into submission.
Or maybe I'm just cynical.
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