‘Remorseless effort’ needed to eradicate next generations of terrorists, UK official says

British intelligence expects the terrorist war to last as long as 50 years, confirming the Bush administration’s view since 9/11 that the conflict will take decades or generations.

Stuart Harrison, a senior British intelligence official, tells a counterterrorism conference that a "remorseless effort" is needed to wipe out the terrorists and those who support them.

"This is bigger than everything we have ever imagined before," he said, according to the BBC. "We are in this for the long run. It will be 35-50 years before we get it cracked."

British authorities made 558 arrests in connection with "Islamic terrorism" in 2003, according to the BBC, and are "fairly certain" that al Qaeda has deployed Soviet-made SAM-7 anti-aircraft missiles in the United Kingdom.

Fortunately for the Brits, the experience with IRA terrorism has given them experience and ruthlessness that we Americans lack in fighting terrorism at home. They know how to infiltrate, they know how to disrupt, they know how to destroy terrorist groups from within. And they have the stomach for the tough decisions that requires.

We don’t. We worry about lawyers and COINTELPRO and demogagic senators and feelings. Done that way, we’ll lose. We would do well to learn from our British brothers – and win the war more quickly.