I appreciate your thoughtful response. And, while it deserves a much more thorough reply than I can give now, let me comment only upon one portion.

Last paragraph - "But until you understand that love of living, prosperity, optimism, human rights, family values, and opportunity are the real reasons we are hated in nations that have none of these, you are always going to be barking up the wrong tree on terrorism."

I think that to which other countries and groups have responded negatively in regards the US is exactly what you describe. I think they resent our real or implied interference with their ability to live and enjoy their family values, real in the case of us doing it, implied in other countries using US supplied arms and equipment (Israel and Iran).

For instance - In Kosovo the US bombed civilians trying to get them to overthrow Milosevic. The US deliberately disrupted their families, their opportunities, their prosperity, for our political ends.

Oh, to stop atrocities, we say. 600,000 thousand massacred, Clinton said.
Then had to retract.

We commit a series of atrocities to stop atrocities? Atrocities which aren't there?

Again, in Iran, we installed a repressive regime, taught the SAVAK how to torture, maim and kill, so the US could get cheap oil. Again, screwing up countless families. They resent this.

But we forget. The US says, "Well, cheap oil is important to us, our cars, our commute, our dividends, and the hell with your families. If you can't take a joke, that's your problem! We have to go to bed with some unsavory folks, but we NEED cheap oil."

And those families hate US. They harbor resentments. And on and on and on.

These aren't big deals to us, like bombing an antibiotics factory in Sudan, or killing Afghan civilians. "They get used to it, slip 'em a goody." The trouble is they don't, they want to raise their families, play with grandchildren, too, and when the US disrupts that, for the dollar, they hold their resentments.

Right now there is a US installed Afghan president. He needs to be protected by US Special Forces. Why?

Do you think the Afghans would like that any more than if the French installed a US president and protected him/her with the Foreign Legion? Would you remember that? Not the protection, but that he/she was unpopular and had to be protected? (That's not "democracy", BTW.)

And they attack. They think we should experience a taste of what they have.

I, personally, would have no trouble throwing the switch or dropping the knife on OBL. AND, I would like to see the country I love let other people live their lives, too.

Arf