It's a new decade, and that means it's a new era in the war on terrorism. And when fighting terrorism, it's important to know that if you cut the head off of a serpent, that's the best way to kill the whole thing.
President Obama seems to understand that better than his predecessor, President George W. Bush. While Bush like to talk tough and pretend he was a rough and rugged cowboy who'd shoot down anyone who got in his way, the reality is that he backed off of fighting terrorism in order to invade Iraq, which was a sovereign nation unalighned with any terrorist movement at the time.
President Obama hasn't made the same mistakes when fighting terrorism, and the results have been positive because of that. The most positive part has been the capture of Mullah Abdul Kabir, who was the number two leader of the Taliban and a member of their leadership council. Even more importantly, Kabir was considered the military mastermind of the Taliban and had successfully stymied the NATO forces deployed to destroy the Taliban in the years under President Bush.
What changed under President Obama was the United state's committment to, metaphorically, cutting the head off of the serpent. And they were able to do so with the help of the Pakistani intelligence agency, in itself a huge step in fighting terrorism worldwide.
Pakistand had long been considered a safe haven for Taliban members because of that country's political unwillingness to take on members of the radical Islamist movement for fear of alienating citizens of their own country and looking like pawns of the west. The west, especially under Bush, was what radical islamists called a "useful gollem" - that is, they could frighten the people of muslim countries into acting against their own best interest by invoking the specter of interference or invasion from the western powers.
By taking a more conciliatory and mature tone, the United States under Obama has crushed much of that rhetoric, and as a result fighting terrorism has become easier and more productive, especially in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan.
So where does the United States and the fight against terrorism go from here? Well, with the recent invasion of Marjah - a taliban stronghold - and the capture of Kabir, it seems clear that fighting terrorism now means going after the head of the serpent. With our newfound vigor and competencce, that can only mean good things for the people of the world.