[richlevy]

Well, I think it's a moral and tactical mistake to declare war on 1.3 billion people based on the actions of thousands or even tens of thousands. This was why I cringed when GWB used the crusade term after 9/11. 'Crusade' is as loaded a term for a Christian as 'jihad' is for a Muslim. His remarks probably had an upward effect on Jihad recruitment.

Basically, the response to terrorism is to let everyone know that there is no time limit on how long we will spend to track down those actually responsible. The Israelis went to a lot of effort to track down the Munich Olympic terrorists and killed 8 out of 11 with no 'collateral damage'. In doing so they made their point.

So far, we have invaded the wrong country and tied down 130,000 troops next door to where Al Queda was actually operating. We have incarcerated and sometimes 'strenuously questioned' thousands of terror suspects. However, we have had mixed results in shutting down actual terror cells in Europe and the U.S. Our intelligence does not have the experience with 'wars on terror' that the Israelis do.