Originally Posted by abaya

Wow, you sound remarkably like... them. Or maybe the old phrase, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" still rings true for you... just replace "Indian" with the words "Iranian citizens, Syrian citizens, and Islamic militants."

So, annihilate Iran, Syria, and all Islamic militants, eh? And terror will be gone forever, right?

Look, no one can win a war on "terror." Terrorism is not some specific ideology that people sign up for, like communism (even though our "war on communism" was just about as successful as this current war). To think that by annihilating one group of people, that you can thus get rid of this entire "plague" is very wrong-headed... and it reminds me of another era not too long ago. Ahem.

This whole approach lacks an understanding of WHY people become terrorists, of what motivates them. And it lacks an understanding that one cannot defeat this enemy by fighting them physically or trying to "annihilate" them (or their "host countries"), because they will continue to see those who die as "martyrs," and even more people will sign up. It's like a tar baby... the more you stick your fist into it, the more stubborn and resistant it will become... and it will grow stronger.

War is not the way to end this. I am not an expert on such things, but I'm fairly confident that this is not the kind of thing that can be defeated by such conventional "might makes right" means. We had the same frustrating experience in Vietnam... I don't see how this is going to be any different.