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Why America Can Never Win the War on Terror
America is in the 18th year of the War on Terror. After Al Qaeda’s attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 we created a ‘coalition of the willing’ determined to defeat terrorism itself. The United States had already been fighting Al Qaeda and its new brand of international terrorism since 1988 when Osama bin Laden founded the group. With their attacks on American embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole in 1998 Al Qaeda had established itself as the biggest threat to US security. And with the attacks on 9/11 it became the symbol of terrorism and religious extremism in the new digital age, a threat not just the United States but the entire world.
Like the Vietnam War, the War on Terror had more than a decade of smoldering conflict and involvement before the real horrors of war began. Like the Vietnam War, the War on Terror has seen the United States become mired in endless combat where we seem to win every battle but are no closer to winning the war. And just like the Vietnam War, the United States must accept the fact that we have never and will never defeat enemies motivated by ideological rather than material interests.
The first reason why the United States is unable to completely defeat ISIS and Al Qaeda is because terrorist organizations are non-state actors. They are not tied to a territory, do not develop extensive and…
