The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda
The 9/11 attacks were an enormous tactical success for al-Qaeda. They involved well-coordinated strikes on multiple targets in the heart of the enemy, magnified
Peter L. Bergen • The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda
The author describes the 9/11 attacks as a fatal error for Al-Qaeda, the author also argues that they were a tactical success
raised al-Qaeda to the status of the strategic, existential threat that the group craved to be, rather than the serious-enough problem that it in fact presented.
Peter L. Bergen • The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda
Further, Bergen notes that Bush’s invasion of Iraq confirmed much of the propaganda Al-Qaeda had been propagating about the US and the UK, which reinvigorating the movement.
That night American bombs began falling on Taliban targets in Afghanistan, the beginning of a campaign that would destroy Mullah Omar’s incompetent and brutal regime.
Peter L. Bergen • The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda
inter-military, neglecting the civilian casualtiesthe US bombing campaign resulted in numerous civilian casualties that are not acknowledged in Bergen’s work.
Yet the West has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory a number of times already in this long war, and the jihadist militants have proven surprisingly resilient despite the wide range of forces arrayed against them.
Peter L. Bergen • The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda
Bergen indicates that if this long war has an end, we are not there yet.