Can the "War on Terror' ever be won?

Question

Or will this keep going on forever, as long as we refuse to fight it as a war of annihilation? What I mean is, wars are won by totally crushing your enemies, reducing their strongholds (cities, usually) to utter rubble, like we and the Russians did to Nazi Germany in WW2. Or, with modern day communications, political opinions, etc., have we become too politically correct and meek to do the real nasty, dirty work that total war is? (I don't mean our soldiers are meek, they could do the job if we'd only let them.) But should we just crush the resistance in Iraq, even if it means killings innocent civilians in the process, and then turn and crush the major supporter of terrorism in the Middle east, Iran, the same way? Or do we just get out of Iraq, then sit back and hope we don't have another 9/11?

Answer 1

Has the war on Drugs been won after 30 years and trillions of US tax dollars spent on fighting it? Nope.

So to answer your question: no, it cannot be won. The best one can do is win the hearts and minds of people so they won't be inclined to perform terrorist acts.

Answer 2

No.

The so-called War on Terror will never be won. In fact, the War on Terror will be extended to every area of the world where the U.S., my great country, feels it has an interest if we allow it to be. It, to me, is just the form of an Orwellian "Never-ending war" which was described in his classic novel, 1984, in which the people can constantly be deceived by. With an invisible threat constantly on the horizon, the U.S. government can continually pump trillions more away from social services which it owes to its people, taxpayers and otherwise.

Our military is extremely intelligent and has all the means it needs to dominate the rest of the world. The Iraq "fiasco" (read Thomas Ricks' "Fiasco") is a tragedy on almost every level, but no one should doubt our military power because of this hiccup; in fact, the only part of the war which was adequately planned for, the initial invasion (not the occupation), was the only part which went with perfection.

Hang in there, look for ways we can stop this war instead of looking to spend more on another Vietnam.

Answer 3

Only if people stop being terrified.

Terrorist tactics will always be used by fringe groups - what we are currently fighitng is a war on islamic extremism.

What we have accomplished, is to give extremist groups more support than ever before.

We can get out of iraq, but rather than 'hope we don't have another 9/11' we could spend the money currently being wasted in Iraq to GAURANTEE that we don't have another 9/11, by securing our borders and ports.

This administration has wasted hundreds of billions of dollars, and thousands of lives, and left us LESS SAFE than before.

Answer 4

Terror only works if they can terrorize you.

Complacency, laziness, and the inability to accept responsibility are required for terror to work. It has worked for gangs and mobs in the United States and elsewhere. It works for the terrorists of today.

But if one trains, if one stay alert, if one is willing to take decisive action when the need arises, then terrorism hasn't a prayer.

Do you think that terrorists target civilians because they're thinking military victory? They target civilians because they can. They target civilians because it's relatively safe... civilians usually can't fight back. And they target civilians because killing innocent people is terrible. Killing civilians without warning, without apparent reason, in using hideous methods (disemboweling, beheading, death by slow torture, and the ever-popular suicide bomber), instills terror. That's why they do it. They know they can't get a decisive military victory. They are a small faction of the smallest Muslim sect in the world. The only chance they have is to make the people so terrified of them that the people will submit to their leadership. It worked for Hussein. He even had other countries afraid of him.

But complacent people don't see any need to protect themselves. They leave that responsibility to the government or somebody else. Lazy people don't train, don't prepare, don't open their eyes to danger. These people are just what the terrorist prays for. They're sheep waiting to be slaughtered. These cannot win a war against terrorism. They are merely victims... and, unfortunately, victims by choice, because they don't need to be.

Answer 5

the problem with your argument is that as long as you continue to invaded countries to steal their resources, you will continue to make enemies. the so called war on terror is nonsense, as the US is the biggest mass murderer around. You are the ones raping, torturing and killing. Somehow you have the weird notion you are the victims. I guess the germans felt the same way in WW2.

Answer 6

Never, because Terror is not the enemy. Terror is a tactic. If we name the enemy using terror we can defeat them, even if that means annihilating them. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor at the beginning of World War 2, we did not declare war on air raids, we declared war on Japan.

Answer 7

no the war on terrorism will never end because terrorists are born everyday! bush has declared a never-ending war. i say we just go crazy over there. enough with the bullsh*t! lets do this and come home. how about we send Georgie and his family over there to fight. maybe he can do it right since he is so wonderful and great! and his b*tch @ss wife and daughters can fight. let's see how much George likes that. then he'll know what the rest of the US feels like.

Answer 8

yes, it can be won and in a short period of time.

bush is a moron and so are the people that support him.
he has wasted 4 years and 500 Billion dollars in Iraq for nothing.

If we get a winner as President (bush = loser) that person could could get bin laden and all the leaders of Al Qaeda in a couple of years and for far less money.

Answer 9

I don't think the war on terror can ever be won because for every one terrorist killed or caught there are ten more ready to take their place. We need to start showing them a peaceful outlook by helping them rebuild their countries.

Answer 10

well you see, the first thing is that you need to know who the terrorist are. if you don't know its the government, them you are living in the lie that it was not a inside job. 9/11 was a inside job. both invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq were based on lies. you need to get your information from a more reliable and honest source. its not the news you watch on tv.