There was NO chance that this region could ever become peaceful and civilized. Lives, time and money were wasted in the vain hope that bearded savages could become peaceful, kind, tolerant, civilized, cultured and democratic.
The only way to deal with Islamic terrorism is through the credible threat of overwhelming retaliatory force.
Nuke something inconsequential to show that you’re willing to use them,
then tell them “Haji be good” or you lose mecca.
I wonder if anyone said that about Japan or Germany
It's called the trial and error method. It would have been the perfect solution: defeat the bad guys, give the good people a chance to have freedom and democracy. All the other Middle East countries would have turned on the extremist mullahs.
We now move to the next best choice, and then the next best until we solve the problem or one of our cultures gets eliminated.
I am not saying that it was the right thing to do against the American Indians but it is a template. Concerning the Muslims - hunt them down. Disperse the tribes. Put them on reservations. Teach them English. And - this is the big thing - constantly introduce them to new ideas and new religions. Bombard them constantly with Chrisiianity, Bhuddism, Shinto, etc. Make them see that there are other viewpoints that do not promote forcible conversion and/or death.
But all this requires a will and the ability to explain to the American public what we want to achieve. And we are sorely lacking in both since Ronald Reagan left office.