Look back to what happened in the 1990s. Terrorist groups like al Quaeda had free movement and government support in Afghanistan and other countries. An estimated 20,000 terror recruits went through those training camps. They moved from attack to attack (1993 WTC, Kobar Towers, embassies in Africa, USS Cole, etc.) with little or no opposition. They became convinced that American wouldn't do anything more than launch some million dollar cruise missiles into empty camps.

We're supposed to believe they'd much rather be driven out of countries, have international intelligence and law enforcement agencies going after them and their funding, and have the strongest military in the world doing its level best to kill them.

Sure, they'd never want to go back to those "horrible times" of the 1990s. At least, that's what they want us to believe.