January the 20th of 2009. From then on it'll be a different view on terrorism and how the government exploits fear. The biggest sources of terrorism have always been States and ruling classes, not people living in caves.
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Hopefully very, very soon!
I cannot understand how many Americans are pro war in Iraq!
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Half past never, plus never minutes and never seconds. As long as the president feels he has to prove something about his mettle to the "blue collar" republicrats that helped vote him in, he'll have to show he can fight a good war, like a republican would. It's sad when your society is dictated by the "working man" and not necessarily the "educated man", who could clearly deduce that we won't win a war on terror and work on our defense rather than offense.
Source(s):
opinion

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Hopefully soon, but in reality never, Its human nature I guess.
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When Bush leaves office
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As soon as they declare victory on the War on Drugs.
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The War on Terror is definitional. I think, to most Americans, it meant "War on those responsible of 9/11" Unfortunately, that war was abandoned in favor of an unrelated war in Iraq. Since that didn't go too well, we threw in other conflicts, and "Terror" came to apply to anyone fighting against us or our allies. But I think if we ever get Bin Laden, most people will consider that chapter closed.
Source(s):
Interviews with people I know.

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The war on terror will continue as long as terrorism exists and is effective . . . in other words never.

Everyone might think the war will be over the day Bush leaves office, but one small terrorist attack, no matter who is in office, and the American people will demand a forceful response.

Terrorists have the upper hand as long as we are scared. The war on terror will be over when you can carry water bottles and swiss army knives on planes again. Our security is not effective on the small scale and these rules only perpetuate the fear already in society. Get rid of the pointless rules (no fly list here I come!) and the fear will subside. When the fear subsides people will be more rational and will end the war on terror.
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LOL. Apparently you don't read history. This war has been going on for at least 3,500 years and it is not going to 'end' anytime in the next 1,000.
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The war has been going on for a lot longer than most Americans realize. It'll continue to go on for a long time. The name may change, but it'll go on.
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The War on Terror will end shortly after the War on Drugs and just prior to the War on Poverty.
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Terror is a feeling.... Declaring war on a feeling is strange enough, but what better way to keep in fear of terrorism, than by reminding them of it constantly using militaristic rhetoric like "war on terror".

Am I the only one who has ever considered that America sure like to declare a lot of wars on abstract things.... "War on drugs", "War on poverty", "War on crime". Ever wonder why that is? How about declaring peace once in a while. America has been in a constant state of war, one way or another, since it's founding. That is pretty scary.

The sad reality is that during times of war, citizens tolerate more repression from government, and social changes are slipped through in the chaos. The point of all wars, whether they are arranged by governments (that are usually working together, not hostile as they appear), or wars which can not be won (because they are on ideas or perceptions), is control.

When you can manipulate the populations level of fear, you can better control people. The U.S. government actually designed a "terrorism threat level" color system, so you'll always know just what level of fear you should have. And cultivating fear, is of course, the definition of terrorism. Funny coincidence, don't you think?
Source(s):
Reality

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dude, never. There will always be terror and people who fight it. duh
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From my personal experiences in the military's Special Operations Command this will be a never ending war. "Generational warfare" is part of the terminology which I heard coined many, many times. You see this war has been going on for a very long time. It's only now due to the ability of the internet and media that this type of warfare has fully been introduced in full scale to the public. That is excluding the events of 9-11

From meeting with Afghan tribes and other middle eastern people, military's, and rogues. The mindset is that western civilization and it's culture is looking to push out and take over their resources. Enslave them to the life of western civilization. Just as most Americans think that radical Islamists are out to take over and push out / kill all Christians. So those mindsets are now put into play and makes war more of beliefs rather than wealth or power. Just as in history (think the crusades) past these wars are not looked at as your basic country vs country warfare. To some this is a threat to their own religious believes, family values, and even their right to life.

When you add up those prevalent combination's things tend to become very personal. From the father, mother, son, and other generations of family it does become a means of survival and heritage. Eventually along the lines of this never ending conflict things become about revenge.

So to quote my old SF Group Commander, Col. Maholland, I will retire out of this war but my kids, kids will be fighting it still. Even after I'm buried. See if you think about it like this, if they were to kill or capture Bin Laden. It will not matter (for the moment in time yes it will) in the long run, he will become old news. Someone will rise in his place to continue the work and pursue power, violence, all for the justification of their beliefs or personal agenda.

So even if things seem quiet, behind the curtain they will not be. It will not be as covered as these past conflicts were. People will die no matter what their chosen professions are and the only way it will be brought into the limelight once again would be due to another major disaster.

No longer is war truly about rising to power and military might. Now it has become a matter of ideology, for some religious beliefs, but either way you look at it. This and most future conflicts are going to be defined as "who is truly right ethically, morally, and culturally." I hope I helped you attain a answer for the question that was asked.
Source(s):
Personal Experience , first hand knowledge from speaking with multiple nationalities.
Special operations career, operation enduring freedom 1, 5th Special forces group (A),

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policy wise, next January. The actual war, probably never.
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The "War on Terror" will not end with the end of the Bush adminstration. So long as people (and I use the term loosely here) are willing to kidnap, maim, kill and abuse the general public in the name of a "cause" those who protect the general public will always be at war with terror.

I am assuming from the question that you are thinking of Islamic terrorists. While Islamic scholars differ on this, the radical or bomb making wing sees the world as either "The House of Islam" or the "House of War" ie the western culture. The West, which promotes such profane concepts as equality of the sexes, freedom of religion and democracy is contrary to radical Islam. There is no middle ground in this view and untill such time as either they run out of money to carry their agenda to the West or there is a fundimental change in conservative Islamic views.
Source(s):
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-A...

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It will never end. This is the same thing as the war on drugs. It was designed to be a perpetual war.
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Unfortunately, the "War on Terror" began the first time one man came up with a strategy to "terrorize" his fellow caveman to get something he wanted, and it will continue as long as mankind itself continues to use terror to avenge their ideals and beliefs.
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If we're lucky, the American people will wake up and realize that we have been duped by the Bush administration and will stop supporting the WoT. The real agenda behind the WoT is to break Americans into unquestioning submission to authority. How many people would have been willing to take off their shoes at the airport 20 years ago? Now people do it without thinking just because the government said we need to. If government said we need to let them inspect our houses for contraband, would we let them do that too?
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12/12/2012
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Considering that terror exists all over the planet, in various forms (even here in the United States!! -- ever heard of environmentalist terrorism?), we do not have the capability of stopping it completely. Due to that, it will likely never end until after Christ's second coming and the damnation of non-believers to hell -- of which we neither know the time nor day.
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The War on Terror will end as soon as the media stops hyping the War on Terror - or in approx 24 days. Whichever is sooner.
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