Since his days on the campaign trail, defeating terrorism and destroying the Islamic State have been on US President Donald Trump's agenda as an outstanding foreign policy imperative. He attempted to push through a controversial, and widely resisted anti-Muslim travel ban. And he has been working on a new counter-terrorism strategy to put an end to what he deems a Barack Obama-era failure.

Sixteen years after the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks prompted then US president George W. Bush to launch the "war on terror", the incumbent US president should have emerged a lot more knowledgeable about the mission. Because unless he refuses to face reality, he will realize the United States cannot win the fight alone, the "war on terror" alone is not enough to eliminate terrorism, and, most importantly, the US must engage both allies and past foes to complete the mission.

No matter how he evaluates the gains and losses of the Bush and Obama administrations, Trump should have realized by now that the matter is far more complicated than he had anticipated, or is willing to believe.