Why has terrorism not been defeated ?

A brilliant article about why despite the best efforts from the entire world at large, terrorism has not been defeated.

The question we ask ourselves is - why has terrorism not been defeated ? Read this.

Frankly, Al Qaeda and the Taliban combine cannot win the war. They don't have the means. The jihad groups have no naval or air forces. No missile force either. They do have a slackly held guerrilla army that boasts of weapons with limited range and some quantities of explosives. Their satellite phones and other modest wireless systems are susceptible to interception, consequently a big constraint. These outfits do not boast of surveillance and intelligence gathering capabilities through satellites or UAVs.

In practical terms they have no reach. Al Qaeda, the Taliban or similar groups can only cause damage or destruction to contact targets and its immediate periphery which is woefully inadequate to topple a regime -- a prerequisite for victory. Kabul remains with Karzai, though at a cost, while Washington, Paris, and London continue to conduct international business unaffected.

Yet, Al Qaeda and the Taliban for years have managed to create a deadlock against the best equipped and trained forces of the first world on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Why?

Why ?

How have an ill-equipped, ill managed, primitive army held the world hostage for so many years ?

A very short answer - When terrorism is attacked in apparently terrorists countries (Iraq/Afghanistan) - it seems to find safe havens in apparently non-terrorist states (Pakistan)

Last, the biggest folly was to trust Islamabad . At the time of invasion of Iraq, I cautioned the former American ambassador in a gathering at New Delhi that the "United States and its allies cannot win in Afghanistan since they have the lock (Afghanistan) but cannot unlock it as they do not have the key (Pakistan) under their control."

United States had some responsibilty for arming the tribes in Afghanistan against the Russians. They West later found out how counter-productive this move was !

The same mistake is being repeated with Pakistan. The West somehow thinks that they can turn a blind eye towards the fundamentalists that freely roam in Pakistan and still proclaim to fight terror elsewhere.

That would be like fighting a monster with a hundred arms by trying to cut one off one of its arms. To truly defeat the monster of terrorism - you have to attack the heart of this monster.

Waging a war in Iraq/Afghanistan is not enough -- it does not reach the heart of the problem. The terrorists will always find a safe haven by cleverly disguising themselves in a seemingly democratic country that lets them roam freely.

To solve the problem of terrorism. we must attack the heart of the problem.

To solve terrorism we must solve the problems in Pakistan -- Pakistan is the real key to ending terrorism.