al Qaeda Whac-A-Mole

The way we chase al Qaeda around the world reminds me of Whac-A-Mole, the famous carnival game where you use a mallet to hammer mechanical "moles" which pop up out of holes in a board.  al Qaeda behaves like those moles, we nail them in one location and they pop up in another.

That is what we'd expect Islamists to do, isn't it? Nailing them in one location doesn't eradicate all who hold those views, or change the conditions which lead people to find Islamist views attractive. See this Investor's Business Daily article for an example.

So long as (a) Islam tells its adherents that their beliefs make them the natural leaders of the world, whereas (b) some of those same beliefs keep their nations from becoming world leaders, and (c) it is obvious to everyone that they are not, in fact, the leaders of the world, then (d) festering resentment will continue. 

Hence, the long war. We deal with it, Russia deals with it, China deals with it, India deals with it, as well as many smaller nations (e.g., Thailand, the Philippines, Mali, Kenya, Myanmar). About the only inhabited continent where Islamism isn't a problem (yet) is Latin America.

Like rust on a steel ship at sea, it is a problem that won't go away and must be continuously counteracted.