the true conservative:

This is, as you say below, an ideological struggle, and as such, there will never be complete victory.

Well, then it's not a war. Wars end. They might not end in a predictable time-frame, they might not end the way any given person or country wanted, they might drag on far longer than was necessary ... but at some point, the war ir over. A stuggle that could never be brought to a conclusion, either theoretically or in fact, is not a war.

It's important to understand that Hitchens, the author of this piece, and the various leaders and officials who support the War on Terror, or the War on Islamic Terrorism, do NOT use the term "War" metaphorically. They are talking about a real war, with military operations and military spending and domestic sacrifices being made to support the war effort. And yet, as this conversation has illuminated, such a war can never be won.

So what's the answer? We accept maintaining and supporting an army that will continually invade and occupy foreign nations to try to "suppress" terrorists, and rattle our sabre at any foreign leader we can somehow connect to terrorism, and feed trillions of dollars to the war machine every year? For how long? By your own admission ... forever.

I'm sorry. I will not accept it. This plan has already progressed beyond its initial stage of lack of foresight, and is beginning to approach the point of sheer lunacy.