I'm afraid you're applying the history of a true war (complete with armies, uniforms, starkly defined command structure, non-religious based) with an insurgency fueled by religious extremism and major cultural differences.

When we destroyed the heart of the Nazi empire, it of course collapsed back into a culture that for all intents and purposes was exactly the same culture as ours. There were no major ideological differences between the German population as a whole and our own citizens.

Let's say we get intelligence that tells us exactly where the current crop of Al-Quaeda leaders are and we send Predator drones in and blow them all to their 72 virgins. The violence surely would diminish temporarily as the disruption is felt but I contend that within months new leaders would emerge and the situation would be as bad or worse than it was before. Why? Because those corpses we created are now religious and military martyrs. There was no change to the cause that created them in the first place and the people that did the killing are still "them", "outsiders", "crusaders", "heretics". The victors just don't fit in. They don't look right. They don't eat right. They worship improperly. Their women aren't covered from head to toe. They drink too much alcohol. They swear and play music that's blasphemous.

The families and followers of the "martyrs" we created are sworn by their culture for eternal vengeance.

Bowser's right in this one. Using warfare to bring about peace in the Middle East is an exercise in futility. Obama's trapped in this and even if he, as I suspect, knows of the futility of it all, the political price that will be exacted on him if he does a rapid and complete reversal of the existing mindset is fatal to retaining the office. His only hope is a slow and gradual change of that mindset which could take decades if it's even possible. His task is to plant the seeds.

Art