In 2001, Afghanistan was almost completely under control of the Taliban, which gave al Qaeda a sanctuary and shielded them from outsiders. So we invaded it. Today we are supporting a friendly government that is killing jihadis every day and preventing terrorists from having a safe sanctuary.
The idea that terror only needs sparking
via the Internet conflates individuals who kill
in ones or twos or maybe scores if lucky or particularly deadly with big
plots. September 11, 2001 saw nearly three thousand murdered. Big
difference. I'd rather face the "lone wolves" rather than deal with the terror organization that can set up the big attacks.
The second reason given that we are now really good at killing terrorists ignores that we are killing individual terrorists who lack a sanctuary. With a sanctuary, others more easily fill the void and the organization continues to plot. You'll notice that despite killing Soleimani, Iran remains a source of terrorism. And the individuals incited here at home are basically police and intelligence problems, separate from the organizations or ideas that inspire them.
Keeping enough troops in Afghanistan to convince allies to remain in order to keep local Afghans killing jihadis, providing intelligence on jihadi activities, and preventing a sanctuary from being built is still needed and is absolutely 2021--and beyond--thinking.
Until the
jihadis stop practicing 7th and 8th century thinking, we can't let down our
guard. Only when more modern thinking prevails in the Islamic Civil War, and the winners marginalize the ideas that inspire people to join the jihadis to kill can our military end its mission of shielding us from the hate.
