I don't know, it feels to me that whatever you have been doing hasn't really successfully removed any of its political power. It took 9 years and when it finally came down to it killing their leader, Osama bin Laden, didn't really seem to make a dent. It seems that the only effect the current approach has had is tightening the grip around US citizens, and those that are not terrorists, through constant surveillance.
While I doubt we will change the minds of the actual terrorists, educating the middle-east would sure help prevent indoctrination of future generations. That would surely weaken the momentum religious fanatics have built up, and spread their lines thin.

Quote from Gunnii

I don't know, it feels to me that whatever you have been doing hasn't really successfully removed any of its political power. It took 9 years and when it finally came down to it killing their leader, Osama bin Laden, didn't really seem to make a dent. It seems that the only effect the current approach has had is tightening the grip around US citizens, and those that are not terrorists, through constant surveillance.
While I doubt we will change the minds of the actual terrorists, educating the middle-east would sure help prevent indoctrination of future generations. That would surely weaken the momentum religious fanatics have built up, and spread their lines thin.

Well, in the case of Iraq, I would argue that the invasion has been and is still becoming a successful—albeit a rocky—one, despite its failings along the way. In the case of Afghanistan, we are getting there. And even if we weren't, it's still a worthwhile attempt. Did we really want the Taliban to remain in power? Sure, some people may have preferred us to keep our business out of there, but after all, we haven't been "out of there" for a very long time, and I can guarantee us keeping our business out of there would have been exactly what the Ba'ath party and the Taliban wanted. In Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgency has lost a lot of its momentum, with it not having many safe havens left and with it having many disruptions in its arms flow etc. Pakistan and Iran continue to (probably) fund the insurgents but nobody ever claimed it wasn't going to be a messy war, as the Taliban continue to spread throughout the region and into neighbouring states like Pakistan. It's a war in the middle-east, not just specific states. As far as removing political power, the Taliban are no longer in political power. A new constitution was put into place in 2004 and in 2005 a general election took place. These are not things that have not "removed any of its political power". As far as education goes, democracy and a stable government must predate a good education. I have no doubt that a result of allied intervention, should it continue to succeed, will produce better education and thus less Islamic extremists. I don't buy into the whole "they hate us more now" cop-out, either. We've been invested in there for too long, and it is true in some way that the Taliban were created by the US after the soviet invasion. We simply can't pull out because staying in might generate more hatred, we have to make up for our past mistakes, if that's the line you take.

I will say that I do agree that the conduct of both the US and the UK has been pretty poor in both the Iraq and Afghanistan invasion. Firstly, the rabble-rousing demagoguery of Blair and Bush was insufferable. The focus on WMDs in Iraq when, really, the most they could say is that Saddam had been dealing with that business dubiously (North Korean discussions, international nuclear inspections etc), was nothing but fear mongering. I would also agree that the conduct of particularly the US in response hasn't been too great, both at home and over there; the constant barrage of liberty restrictions in the name of anti-terrorism, as well as some of the atrocities committed by our own troops like that of Abu Ghraib. It is by no means a clean war, nor is it an easy one, but ultimately I feel that it's the best road to success in the region.

Just from a pedantic point, would classing education as a war on terror really be appropriate? I get it in a metaphorical sense but educating people isn't really much like war. It's more like peace. You stop conflict through knowledge, rather than attempting to stop it through more conflict (which nearly always fails).