We’re at the muppet stage now, the more clueless than not terrorist wannabes rather than the cold, hard zealots who came before them.
Sageman’s policy advice is to “take the glory and thrill out of terrorism.” Jettison the rhetoric about Muslim extremism — these leaderless jihadists are barely Muslims. Stop holding news conferences to announce the latest triumphs in the “global war on terror,” which only glamorize the struggle. And reduce the U.S. military footprint in Iraq, which fuels the Muslim world’s sense of moral outrage.
That’s how to end it.
That assumes those in charge WANT to end it. I seriously doubt that. War benefits the incumbent, who gains power, restricts freedom, and gets to call his/her enemies unpatriotic. An adept politician can always use a war to his/her own benefit. And even an unadept politician falls prey to the temptation.
A change in administration might cause a change in policy, depending on who gets in. I expect Clinton would jump right on the national security bandwagon rather than give back all the executive power Bush has accumulated.