Back in the early days of the current war against Islamic Militants/Extremists/Terrorists, the Bush Administration coined the term "Global War on Terror" (GWOT) as a name for the worldwide conflict pitting the United States and many other nations against al-Qaida, the Taliban, and certain other Islamic militants.
It soon became obvious that the U. S. was not truly waging war against ALL terrorists in the world. Has the U.S. launched airstrikes against the Irish Republican Army? No. Has the U.S. attacked Hezbollah or Hamas? No. Has the U.S. sent the Special Forces or Rangers to help the Russians against Chechen terrorists/guerrillas? No. The only terrorists we are truly interested in fighting are those who attacked us on 9/11 and those groups that aided them. So, it is not really a Global War on Terror. There are plenty of terrorists around the globe who realistically do not need to fear that an American Tomahawk missile will be flying through their window at them.
After a while, the Pentagon began using the term "The Long War" as a moniker for the global war on whoever. Both names, by the way, include the War in Iraq, which causes a lot of arguing over whether Iraq is really part of the same war being fought in Afghanistan or Somalia. (That argument is for a future post). The name Long War denotes a multi-generational conflict more akin to the Cold War, than to most other American conflicts.
The "Long War" term has also fallen out of favor lately, as some in the military and diplomatic bureaucracy fear that folks in Iraq and other Muslim nations will think the U.S. is actually in it for the long haul and they will have to deal with American troops in their streets and wadis for an extended period. Gee, we HAVE had large military bases in the middle east for almost 20 years, and our navy has patrolled the Persian Gulf far longer. Why try to disguise the truth?
As long as America’s economy is dependent on oil, the U.S. will be involved heavily in the middle east. And as long as we perceive a threat from Jihadist terrorists, we will be fighting someone, somewhere, in some Muslim country or other. Call the war what it is: A Long War. America and our allies will most likely be fighting this war, or some version of it, for decades.
An interesting article on this topic is linked below. The author is a very readable and interesting classical historian with a specialty in ancient Greek warfare. Read his books, they are worth it!
Is the War on Terror Over?–by Victor Davis Hanson
sobia
March 28, 2008 at 5:43 am
9/11 incident was mischievous collabration of Israel and America.Islamic jehadies are not having the resources to carry on such a well planned attack.After that attack no incident took place on USA although USA has killed thousands of muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq in the name of war against terrorism & Al-Qaeda.
America’s main purpose was to capture the oil resources of middle east and to contain thr russia and china ,america placed forces of NATO in Afghanistan.
passavisthunter
September 19, 2008 at 10:45 pm
SOBIA…you are an idiot. nuff said.