"The tactics that we developed do work, but they don't produce
decisive effects absent other, complementary activities. We did an awful
lot of capturing and killing in Iraq for several years before it
started to have a real effect, and that came only when we were partnered with an
effective counterinsurgency approach. Just the strike part of it can never do
more than keep an enemy at bay. And although to the United States, a drone
strike seems to have very little risk and very little pain, at the receiving
end, it feels like war. Americans have got to understand that. If we were to use
our technological capabilities carelessly -- I don't think we do, but there's
always the danger that you will -- then we should not be upset when
someone responds with their equivalent, which is a suicide bomb in Central
Park, because that's what they can respond with." (thanks Amir)