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"They're not attempting to occupy any lands."

They used to OWN Afghanistan. They used to OWN Iraq. They don't anymore.

"They're only goal is to inflict casualties on Westerners"

I don't recall this as their stated goal. They didn't declare war on Bali and Turkey, or even Westerners in these countries. They did declare war on the USA. I've seen some pointless murders by them. But I've seen nothing but strategic defeat for AQ, one after another. And they have a leader who won't/can't show his face, even though you couldn't pry him away from the camera prior to Dec 01.

I'll say it again. AQ has known nothing but defeat since 01, just as Hitler, despite numerous scary tactical successess, knew nothing but defeat in the west starting with Normandy.

"Only to rebut the assertion that Al Qaida has "known nothin but defeat" since 9-11."

Years from now nobody's going to look back on the present and say that it was nip and tuck there for awhile. Since AQ's sucker punch on 9-11, it's been a rout ever since.