Can we ever win?

This might have been covered before and if so I apologise but the question still stands. Can a war on terror ever be one?

Firstly I'd like to explain what circumstances I would except as constituting a victory:

Total victory- Al'queda is destroyed as an organisation, the Taliban are either eliminated or brought into the political fold, Iran backs down from funding groups in Iraq and elsewhere. Other terrorist groups are similarly eliminated or made to understand violence is not an acceptable tactic of political or other pressure.

Now for me the first three may be possible Al'queda is a formidable foe but theoretically it could be defeated similarly for the Taliban and Iran could theoretically be made to stop its funding etc.

However this only deals with initial terrorist groups, what’s to stop more starting up in the future and what’s to stop disenchanted people from using violence as a tactic. Are there underlying issues which need to be dealt with such as poverty or is terrorism just a part of civilisation which must be accepted and dealt with as and when necessary?

Any thoughts?

A war on terror is like a war on drugs. Your fighting infinite amounts of the problem, with no real solution to deal with the gravity of the matter.

If you ask me, it is an excuse to perpetrate some sort of troop presence in the middle east so that the US,UK etc can control the governments there, and more importantly control the oil.

By chasing around a boogeyman, you give the supply to the demand. Thats what this admin is really great at. Creating a PERCEIVED problem and then PERCEIVABLY having the solution.

In this case the US created fear and panic around 911 to the point where, at least to some, invading Iraq was a good idea becaue we didn't want the "smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud". Now the Bush people have exactly what they want : A war with no end in sight and endless "business" opportunities in the region that come as a result of the constant chaos over there.

You can never win a war against an ideal or a tactic, no matter how hard you try.

When the extremist muslem world is reduced to DUST is when it's over. They spent their entire life being taught how "great' their god is and how perfect their belief system is, more liberial mind set of " Dang Abdul, building with mud, our controll over women, and banning of those evil kites really isnt working, lets blame those folk's who seem figured out the complexites of a sewer system....TruthWithin>>>>By chasing around a boogeyman, you give the supply to the demand. Thats what this admin is really great at. Creating a PERCEIVED problem and then PERCEIVABLY having the solution.....The problem was here way before Bush...and I guess those friends that jumped, were crushed, were KILLED in some " PERCEIVED" event...PFFFTTTT...Shame!!!!

nope it wont be over and iran funding groups not enough evidence if you ask me i dont beleave anything that coems out from america ever since iraq. never ending war no end i see to it

But consider the scenerio even if middle eastern terrorist are stopped whats to stop home grown terrorists such as the aryan brotherhood? Look at what happened to the british in northern island 30 years of a peacekeeping operation and organisations such as the IRA and provisional IRA are still to some extent around.

Originally posted by Oneshot1
....TruthWithin>>>>By chasing around a boogeyman, you give the supply to the demand. Thats what this admin is really great at. Creating a PERCEIVED problem and then PERCEIVABLY having the solution.....The problem was here way before Bush...and I guess those friends that jumped, were crushed, were KILLED in some " PERCEIVED" event...PFFFTTTT...Shame!!!!

There are ways to quote things so it looks cool and is easy to read...check it out.

While your stance feels very macho , it is very irresponsible. By reducing the ME to a pile of dust might sound great to you, the BILLION innocent people that would die might not share your sentiment. Islam, is by and large, a peaceful civilization. America has a long way to go before you can jump on your moral high ground and scream others faults. We still don't treat women equally, we still don't understand one another to make those around us equals and we certainly have our share of extremists in the religion front.

Don't be so quick to judge (bomb others).

I am not suggesting that 911 was perceived, far from it. It was very real. I was here in NYC when it happened, so I kind of understand the gravity of it, so let's just clear your little assumption about what I was talking about right away. So "SHAME" on you for assuming what I was talking about.

This administration has used 911, regardless of who caused it, to spread a culture of fear across America that has slowly allowed them to strip rights away from AMERICANS, the rights that are represented by your jingoistic rhetoric. That is where you need to be looking.

reply to post by kaos1911


can we win? Yes, but we won't, because the only way to do so would be considered "Inhumane". Think about it...the terrorists think they're doing Gods will by eliminating the infidels. When they suicide bomb, they believe they're instantly going to heaven and doin' the whole virgin thing. Well, what if they didn't think they were going to heaven when they died? Would that make them think twice about what they're doing? Right now, the terrorist have no fear...they WANT to die. So how do we make them NOT want to die? Coat our bullets in pigs blood. Pigs are considered "unclean" in their culture, and if you die in an unclean manner, guess what? No heaven for you...suddenly, it's not so exciting to go die when there's a chance you're going to hell instead of heaven. Of course, this will never happen, because as I said, it's "inhumane". Meanwhile we fight a losing battle because our enemies want to die, and they'll take as many infidels out as they can in the process.

Focus here TruthWithin...America DID NOT cause Terrorissm, Radical muslim's, Wahhabi's 'teaching" a preverted intrepetation of the koran is the cause of the troubles we now face...The silence and condemnation from "islam, by and large a peacefull civilization" is DEAFENING...Radical islam wants America dead, yup that even includes YOU.... Yeah I'm a New Yorker also... and again to you ....SHAME!!!!! will you be happy we didnt continue this fight when they pop a nuke in Ny, La or LickSpit, Kenntucky??? Because they" the muslim world" would like nothing better then the total destruction of the American way of life....PFFFT done with you and your kind...

The wording in the title of the thread is the biggest clue to answering the OP's question.

Using the word "win" is the major reason why we will never win. And what is there to win. A world free from terrorism? It will never happen as there will also besome who wants something that someone else has.

kaos1911 touched on the best (current) example, Northern Ireland. While the peace is not perfect and the terrorist organisation on both sides still exist in some shape or form, there is a elected assembly and both sides appear to be working together for the betterment of all the peoples of Northern Ireland.

With the current strategy of having military forces being engaged in a war, there will continue to be terrorists who believe that is being done is wrong and against their belief systems.

There has to be a re think on the engagement strategy from both sides. Like it or not, we either have to get along or it could be bye bye planet Earth.