Reply #10: Yes, if "Mohammed tells them so", it's difficult to stop that. [View All]

But if that were all the incentive, terrorism would be limited to a few mid-Eastern David Koresh's committing a few acts a year. Criminals will be criminals.

But when you declare all-out, world-wide war, the opponent will respond in kind.

If we are attacked again (and we probably will be), we will have to return to the debate no one wanted to have the first time: to what extent are our actions contributing to this terrorism?

This does not propose that WE are responsible for the terrorism. But we DO contribute by our actions. There are reaosns for a thing called diplomacy. One can argue that the Bush administration's lack of diplomacy in dealing with the Mid-East prior to 9-11 was a contributor in stoking the fire already under Al Qaeda. One can also argue that the way in which we have approached this "war on terror", with an even more incredible lack of diplomacy and heavy-handed tactics, has stoked Al Qaeda's fire even moreso.