If you want to know why our "war on terrorism" has failed so miserably – if you want to understand how and why the harder we fight the more enemies we have to face – then read this recent piece in the Wall Street Journal on the evolution of the Syrian civil war, which opens with this startling query:

"In the three-way war ravaging Syria, should the local al Qaeda branch be seen as the lesser evil to be wooed rather than bombed?"

How can such a question even be conceived, let alone asked? After all, wasn't the whole purpose of the nearly fifteen-year US military campaign in the region supposed to have been the eradication of Al Qaeda? Aren't we being constantly reminded of the fact that another 9/11 may well be in our future if we don't destroy "the terrorists," denying them safe havens and pursuing them to the ends of the earth? And wasn't it Al Qaeda that conceived, planned, and carried out the attacks that changed our world on that fateful September day?

Oh well, never mind that – don't be so closed-minded! – because "This is increasingly the view of some of America's regional allies and even some Western officials."

As to how one could possibly justify a deal with such a devil, we are told that the Syrian war has killed 230,000 people, and 7.6 million have been forced to flee