I agree with you there.
But the terrorists haven't figured it out yet.
They take small victories as major ones. They believe they win if they destroy the enemy... regardless of what becomes of them and their brothers and their children.
But they do succeed in destabilizing regions and creating conflict. And unfortunately terrorists take that as a sign of victory... and the scared people flock to their side for protection from the conflicts those very terrorists started.

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside