Well, given that the war was really an epic victory for Communism and served to transition half of Europe from brownshirts to red flags and May Day parades....
Yes, because like most things involving people, causation is notoriously more difficult to prove than any case put forward stating such summary proclamations has ever been able to do with satisfaction.
There were decades when there were no large-scale terrorist attacks on the US before 9/11, when we were decidedly less active militarily on the matter.
By all means, keep paying attention. As I said above, it is too early to give any kind of definitive judgment. And in any case, on a long enough time scale anything can go to shit and probably will. All solutions are temporary, all successes are provisional, that is the way the world works.
I don't think you understand the logic. Just because we haven't reached the end of history and some ontological state of permanent stability/peace/prosperity and happiness doesn't mean that we haven't made short term gains nor does it mean we cannot maintain those success into the future. It just means that for now, this is the way it is trending.
To me, calling AQ a general name, a symbol and a pattern of warfare is the same thing as calling it a brand. Coke is a general name for soda, a symbol of refreshment and a pattern for marketing sugared water-- that is pretty much the definition of a brand.
You don't know that.
For Al Qaeda, I think we do. They are not nearly as universally admired and respected in the Muslim world. You are right, of course, if we turn our backs on Afghanistan or if we abandon our interests in the region the Taliban could easily become dominant in Afghanistan. That is why people like me have argued so strongly for remaining indefinitely..
Did Europe reach some "ontological state of permanent stability/peace/prosperity and happiness" post-WW2 after the US involvement with the Marshall plan or not? What about Japan?
No. That is exactly my point. As someone from a former Warsaw Pact nation you, of all people, should understand what a mixed bag Europe was after WW2 and the time and effort it took to make progress. You can't just walk away and expect things to continue on a straight line upwards. You have to stay and work with those elements of the society that share enough of you values to make things better. Not perfect, not perfectly stable, just better.
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There were decades when there were no large-scale terrorist attacks on the US before 9/11, when we were decidedly less active militarily on the matter.
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To me, calling AQ a general name, a symbol and a pattern of warfare is the same thing as calling it a brand. Coke is a general name for soda, a symbol of refreshment and a pattern for marketing sugared water-- that is pretty much the definition of a brand.
You don't know that.
For Al Qaeda, I think we do. They are not nearly as universally admired and respected in the Muslim world. You are right, of course, if we turn our backs on Afghanistan or if we abandon our interests in the region the Taliban could easily become dominant in Afghanistan. That is why people like me have argued so strongly for remaining indefinitely..
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