I hate to paint with too broad a brush, but really it seems like anyone who still says that we are "at war with Islamic Terrorism" is just incapable of learning. You cannot wage a "War" against a tactic. Terrorism - Islamic or otherwise - is a term describing a type of act or behavior that people engage in. Anyone with two legs, two arms, and a rudimentary understanding of weapons or explosives can commit terrorism. Therefore, we can NEVER WIN a War Against Terrorism, because there will always be people with the ability to commit terrorist acts. I will never understand why people cannot comprehend this.

Author Mark Danner quotes a military counter-insurgency expert as saying "Declaring war on terrorism is like declaring war on air power." This always seemed like a pretty good analysis to me. At best, we can identify a specific group of people, at any given time and place, and try to take away their ability to commit acts of terrorism. But of course, in such a case, we are at war with those particular people, and protecting against terrorist attacks (even in the rare and limited cases where this is possible) is a tactic, not an enemy. It's ridiculous to think that people who will very willingly kill themselves and their children in order to inflict damage will somehow be "sacred" out of terrorism. It's a tactic that will always be available, if people are angry and crazy enough.

The real question is, what do people who say "We're at war with Islamic Terrorism" really mean .. or rather, what do they really want? I'm sure there are a substantial number of people who actually believe that we can bomb several select places and somehow, no one else will be able to commit any acts of terrorism.

But people who have any understanding of reality don't think that. There are many people who would declare war on terrorism as a more palatable characterization of what they really want ("terrorism" being something that all thinking people would oppose). What they would say, if they thought they could get away with it, is "We are at war with Islam. Western modern semi-Christian civilization and Islam can never peacefully co-exist, and we won't be safe until the last Muslim is dead." I just wish they would actually come out and say it, and at least I could repesct them for their honesty.