The long war

No end in sight for US duties in Middle East

In this undated photo made by the U.S. Department of Defense and obtained in April 2004, flag-draped coffins of U.S. war casualties are lined up inside a plane in Dover, Del. For over a decade after the autumn of 2001, America, with its allies, has been at war against factions of Islamist militants and terrorists, including the Taliban and al-Qaida, as well as offshoots in Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. - photo by Associated Press

W The Long War Heal — In this undated photo made by the U.S. Department of Defense and obtained in April 2004, flag-draped coffins of U.S. war casualties are lined up inside a plane in Dover, Del. For over a decade after the autumn of 2001, America, with its allies, has been at war against factions of Islamist militants and terrorists, including the Taliban and al-Qaida, as well as offshoots in Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. - photo by Associated Press

DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer Thirteen years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, this was supposed to be a season of relief, with Iraq managing on its own and most U.S. troops finally ending their combat duty in Afghanistan. Instead, Americans are bracing for another upsurge of military engagement in a region where one war blurs into another. Across the world, a generation has now grown up amid this continuous conflict, and there's no end in sight.

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