Terrorism: asking the awkward question

This in turn has led to an “anti-radicalization” industry that takes government money in the belief that the best way to stop terrorism in western countries is to focus on eliminating recruitment at home. I agree that something has to be done to stop recruitment.

But the real issue of recruitment is to ask: to what extent is western foreign policy accidentally creating the basis that fuels domestic terrorism? 

Tragically, 16 years on from Bush’s speech I think that it is now possibly too late to get out of the quagmire of the west’s involvement in the Islamic “long war”.  To withdraw now would be to send a signal that terrorism can “work” and that the west is on the run.

Afghanistan is now the US’s longest war and the US is stepping up its involvement in that swamp. President Trump has just abdicated his role in this war by allowing the US military to set their own (increasing) force deployment. I don’t see any light at the end of that tunnel – or that of Iraq and Syria.

In a wider sense, as the war sucks in more American blood and treasure, so it contributes to America’s relative decline. The main victor of the “war on terror” will be China (which has avoided involvement in it).

We continue to be haunted by the wrong answer that Bush gave to his own question in 2001.