Reinforce Success

One basic concept in fighting a campaign is to reinforce success. If your secondary effort is advancing while the main effort falters, don't funnel reserves into the failed "main" attack--send them to the "secondary" effort and make that the main effort. Don't reinforce failure. So how is bin Laden doing? Let's see:

• Al Qaeda hit America on 9-11 hoping to drive us from the Middle East. That didn't work.
• The terrorists hit Australia at Bali and yet the Australians are still with us in the fight.
• They hit Britain in London and Britain is still with us.
• The terrorists hit Spain in Madrid and the Spanish turned and fled.

With this record, since the terrorists manage about one big hit per year, they may decide to reinforce success. Instead of hitting the fighting members of the coalition might they not think they'd get more mileage attacking the weak links?

Germany and France should be nervous.

As should Spain. After all, the jihadis are still upset with that whole loss of Andalusia thing.

Or our enemies could be as stupid as they seem and continue to launch attacks that drive people to our side, whether in Iraq or elsewhere. Funny how critics of the war claimed America would do just that by going on the offensive.

UPDATE: Victor Hanson puts this in a larger perspective:

Islamicists are selective in their attacks and hatred. So far global jihad avoids two billion Indians and Chinese, despite the fact that their countries are far tougher on Muslims than is the United States or Europe. In other words, the Islamicists target those whom they think they can intimidate and blackmail.

Or in other words, they want to win and so fight those they believe they can beat.

We must deprive our jihadi enemies of the hope of victory. Pursue them to the ends of the Earth. And kill them.

And work hard on ending the cultural support available in the Moslem world that replenishes the ranks of the enemy. This is not a war on Islam, though Islam is hardly irrelevant, and so our necessary ruthlessness must be narrowly focused.