Earlier on I quoted Frank Richter who argued that the United States should not expect any more attacks on its soil. Moreover, I contended that Americans tend to think in the short term and may not be able to deal with a slow moving, long term war.
Recently, a friend suggested that now — the summer of 2004 — and for the next few years, we will not be seeing the outcome of new thinking or new plans, but the eventual implementation of old, low budget plans. The goal of these plans is to persuade Moslems that the US is a `paper tiger', that it is not interested in democracy, and that a religious dictatorship, like that of the past, is better than corrupt, pro-American dictators.
Her point is that we cannot predict what may happen. The US government can stop many attacks against the US. But there are other groups. Moreover, the movement is more decentralized than traditional organizations that have acted against the United States and other infidels. This means that there need be no contact between those who attack and the Al Qaeda leadership. Indeed, the Al Qaeda leadership may all be captured or killed, and that would have no effect on the movement as a whole. What the military calls a `decapitation strategy' fails.
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