We almost had another one. How many people were on flight 253? The headlines could have been tragic. I wanted to start a thread where people might reflect on almost a decade of the "war on terror". Has there been progress? Are we addressing the root of the problem or just a symptom? What is at the root of this type of violence. Is there any hope for diplomacy? Please try and keep the discussion about policy, not politics.

I personally see the present tactic of "smoking them out, dead or alive" to have been completely worthless. It seems that every time you cut off one head, another grows back. Al-Qaeda has completely decentralized. Factions exist all over the globe, and are only loosely connected. What fuels them? To a great degree, I believe it's anti-American sentiment. How can that tide be turned? I tend to think that the 900 pound gorilla in the room is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. How far would resolving that go towards curbing this extremism?



Discuss.