When will it end?

Submitted by Robert Harris (United States), Jan 24, 2003 at 21:32

I agree with your article with one reservation, and that is your comment about the "end of the war on terrorism". How will we know when it is over? There is no criteria for the ending, and who the winner is. Normally, a war is over when one side surrenders, or when a ruler is killed or overthrown, or when certain territory is conquered, etc. In this "war" we don't even know who the enemy is; Al Qaeda is one enemy and we know almost nothing about it, but there are many terrorist groups. It seems to me that as long as there is hatred, there will always be acts of terror, not only against the USA and Israel, but against many other nations, and for a whole slew of reasons. I certainly agree with the necessity to fight this crime, but I can't perceive the "war" ever ending. It certainly won't end before we have a clear definition of what the "end" means.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".