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Terrorism is not a country. It is a concept, and if you bite it it'll just bite back.
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It is neither a country nor a concept. It is a technique of war, one that neutralizes superior military technology whilst creating legends and inspiring others. Bombing terrorist camps will get rid of immediate threats, but we are seeing a symbiotic relationship develop with the civilian population. This makes it exceedingly difficult to deal with militarily, unless you get rid of the civilian population too. The conundrum of Israel and Palestine. In effect, these militants have exploited our greatest "weakness", a desire to not kill innocent people. Ultimately, our choice will be as follows -- 1) kill every Arab (a "solution", however awful), 2) do it the Israeli way -- our way currently (less morally repugnant I suppose, but won't end Islamist terrorism), 3) do nothing, 4) somehow get other Arabs to reject this method, as we do now. There are probably other options too.
2) the continuation of this option will encourage other societies that are currently irritating to the American govt. to adopt this symbiosis, too. Saddam has done it. Who else? Iran, North Korea? The list could very well go on. Continued military intervention will only lead to our hands getting more and more tied down. To use an example in biology, the development of antibiotic resistant germs due to the overusage of penicillin, etc.
4) seems to be the most difficult, but ultimately the best -- it will lead to a solution that does not involve wiping out billions of people. I don't have a good answer, but I can tell you that military intervention ain't helping things.
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