Originally Posted by Axiom
look, im all for our freedoms being taken away, because we must fight these people, that hate our freedoms and wish to take them away.
The "War on Terror" has no useful meaning when its said as a statement of general intent. Presenting it as specific plan is like saying
"we're going to do discovery". Terrorist groups are desperate, with different charters and operative goals. A plan against one would be inappropriate for another.
The biggest threat to the West is from Al Qaeda which is an intangible entity, nothing to grab by the throat. Their anti-West philosophy is more definable than its structure. So what exactly are our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq going to attack?
We can find and bomb out training camps, many of which are in Pakistan. But how effective is that? Invading Afghanistan hasn't at all reduced the threat from Jihadists. Camps can be set up anywhere. There might even be some in the USA.
Can we attack nations that are willing or unwilling hosts, or nations that clearly support terrorist groups? Is that effective? It seems to me that rather than decreasing the threat it would increase it, especially the home-grown threat.
It is frightening to see how little material it takes to bring down a number of planes. Training for that can be done over the internet. Planning can be done anywhere. I can't see a military solution to it. It will only make it worse.