The battle will last decades:

BRITAIN's security forces are nowhere near getting to grips with al-Qaeda, the country's top anti-terror police officer said yesterday, warning the struggle could take decades.

Peter Clarke, the head of the Metropolitan Police's Anti-Terrorist Branch, said it was "hopelessly optimistic" to think that the threat from al-Qaeda could be contained within five or ten years.

One report even suggests that the current generation of al-Qaeda leaders have drawn up a "50-year plan", he said.

Mr Clarke, speaking to a Whitehall gathering of security experts, gave a sobering assessment of the task facing police and intelligence officers trying to counter Islamic extremist groups.

As Ry and I concluded a year and a half ago--we must destroy their culture.  The only alternative involves a nearly uncountable pile of bodies and may be unavoidable anyway.  But we must try.