Tony, Just BTW, Saddam didn't keep al-Qaeda out of Iraq. It has been noted before and after the war that an al-Qaeda training camp was located in Iraq. I can speculate that a lot of the guerrillas that we now face may be from that camp.
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My main purpose here was to address the idea of changing the terrorist mindset. While I think that is a great idea, I'm not sure how to go about it.
9-11 disproved a popular misconception that many of world's violent crime problems could be solved by spreading around cash. In contrast to that philosophy, the majority of the hijackers were of Saudi origin, one of the richest countries in the world. They didn't attack us because they were poor and we were rich.
As I sit in my hotel room, I've been watching the coverage of Yassir Arafat's speech in response to Israel's plans to deport him in response to continued Hamas attacks (which, by the way, Israel says that they can directly link Arafat to).
I have zero hopes for a negotiated settlement in the Middle East. These people (by which I mean radical Islamists) do not understand or respect diplomacy. I can extend that statement to many other people currently and formerly of this world.
Short of giving in to their demands, the only way to effectively deal with these people is through force. I rule out giving in to their demands on the grounds that it will be viewed as weakness and will only encourage further terrorism (ironically, many of the doves erroneously think that force will encourage further terrorism). That leaves force as our only viable option.