We used to call it the flypaper strategy

The more things change…

It occurred to me today that the events in Syria/Iraq etc are more or less a replay of the events of 2005 – i.e. every wannabe mass murderer the world over is gravitating to the place where their deviancy is rewarded (sort of like Richard Florida’s “Creative Class” theory, but with beheadings).  Back then we called it the “Flypaper Strategy” and was seens as a good thing to have them all in one place, far away, and fighting military units.  Now we are all quite apprehensive about it – and worry about what happens when they come home, if they do.

The greater meaning eludes me.