A Guardian article ', US heading for point when 'military pursuit of al-Qaida should end' is bound to Speaking tonight @ Oxford University, Jeh Johnson:
general counsel at the US defence department for the past four years and has given advice on every military operation that needs the approval of the president or defence secretary.
His speech included:
I do believe that on the present course there will come a tipping point, a tipping point at which so many of the leaders and operatives of al-Qaida and its affiliates have been killed or captured, and the group is no longer able to attempt or launch a strategic attack against the United States, such that al-Qaida as we know it, the organisation that our Congress authorised the military to pursue in 2001, has been effectively destroyed.

At that point we must be able to say to ourselves that our efforts should no longer be considered an armed conflict against al-Qaida and its associated forces, rather a counter-terrorism effort against individuals who are the scattered remains of al-Qaida … for which the law enforcement and intelligence resources of our government are principally responsible.
The article ends:
We refuse to allow this enemy, with its contemptible tactics, to define the way in which we wage war..Our efforts remain grounded in the rule of law.
Link:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...ainst-al-qaida