As if our presidents had a choice. As if the American public was ready to turn the other cheek after 9/11, after the USS Cole, after the Kobar Towers, after the Marine barracks in Beirut. Not likely.
When war comes looking for you, you have the options of fighting or surrendering. The west did not declare the Long War, which certainly can be mistaken for permanent. Others declared war on us, and we chose to fight.
It may be that our opponents in the Long War have decided their lives, as currently lived, aren't worth living. That the choices they are willing to accept are either victory or death, nothing less. If so, it is in our interest to oblige them with ample opportunities for martyrdom, at minimum cost to ourselves. We have the technology available to make this possible.
It is important to remember, always, that the choice was theirs. The Long War could end tomorrow if the other side would go home and get on with their lives.
