Bush and Bin Laden's virtual war

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(This essay was adapted from an address first delivered in February at the Tenth Asia Security Conference at the Institute for Security and Defense Analysis in New Delhi.)

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So how, finally, do we "take stock of the war on terror"? Let me suggest three words:

1. Fragmentation - brought about by "creative destabilization", as we see it not only in Iraq but in Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere in the region.
2. Diminution - of American prestige, both military and political, and thus of American power.
3. Destruction - of the political consensus within the United States for a strong global role.

Gaze for a moment at those three words and marvel at how far the US has come in a half-dozen years.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JC28Ak04.html