Productivity

Via ABC News:

A senior Egyptian al Qaeda member was killed along with other militants during a Pakistani military raid of a hideout in the northern part of Pakistan, sources have told ABC News. Multiple intelligence sources in Pakistan confirmed to ABC News that they believed Abu Mohsin Musa, also known as Abdul Rahman, had died in the overnight raid. Rahman was one of the FBI's most wanted men with a $5 million bounty on his head. He was indicted in absentia in a New York court for his alleged involvement in the bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 7, 1998.

Some folks still like to suggest that we're losing the War on Terror, but they tend to miss the simple logistics of the equation. It takes nine months to gestate a potential terrorist, a minimum of 10–15 years before they're ready to carry out even a suicide bombing (that seems to be the Palestinian age floor, at least), and even moderately capable operatives take at least 15-20 years of life to develop. The rare mastermind-quality terrorists don't seem to hit their stride for another five to ten years after that, and they have been constantly decreasing in number since the start of the War on Terror.

While there are critics quick to point out that our actions in various theaters can sometimes prod people to turn to terrorism, I think it safe to say that the majority who choose to engage in terrorist acts were already predisposed to do so because of prior conditioning. If we did not trigger them now, something would likely trigger them at another point.

It take just seconds to make bullet, hours or days to build a bomb or missile, but lifetimes for terrorists to reach level of proficiency. If we see this as a war of production, like World War II, it is obvious that on this level, we are assured of victory. Effective terrorists simply cannot be made and trained faster than we manufacture weapons to destroy them, and ineffective terrorists are simply targets.

Abu Mohsin Musa became just another statistic, his years of experience lost to a weapon that took hours or days to manufacture. The Islamofascists are slowly, painfully learning the same thing the Germans did in World War II. You cannot defeat the United States in a war of production.