ask ourselves, how will this conflict end? >> this is it the top lawyer at the pentagon. the general counsel of the defense department, jay johnson, speaking today at oxford university in britain broaching a subject that nobody at a high level of government has been willing to officially broach since 9/11. >> how will this conflict end? it is an unconventional conflict against an unconventional enemy and will not end in conventional terms. we cannot, and should not, expect al qaeda and. its associated forces to all surrender, all lay down their weapons in an old field or to sign a peace treaty with us. they are terrorist organizations. nor can we capture or kill every last terrorist who claims an affiliation with al qaeda. i can offer no prediction about when this conflict will end. or whether we are as winston churchill once described it near the "beginning of the end." on the present course, i do