Not paralyzed. More like a fighter who has received some blows and is punch drunk, but will recover if left alone for awhile, angrier than ever.

The banking community does not divulge how much money it has confiscated from terrorists (something banks and governments LOVE to do) but it is very likely a figure reaching hundreds of millions, perhaps billions on a global scale.

This puts a definite dent - and now much of Germany's police and terror forces, to their credit, are no longer afraid of being called "racist nazis" and are going after these free-ride-terror-folks with determination.

They got comfortable and coddled in europe - but that led them to be more careless and leave easier trails to follow there too.

As long as we keep in pursuit - they will be hampered. As soon as we or the world sit back and say "we're done." - it will happen all over again, somewhere in the world.

Securing Iraq is important - it is the future nucleus of a stable middle east. A Saddam-free Iraq emboldens the Saudi leadership to make more democratic concessions. That alone is worth the price of admission. A Saudi/new Iraq alliance will lead to greater stability and freedom in all the small arab kingdom satellites of Saudi Arabia. (Remember when it was just called Arabia?)

The Golden Triangle. It's the future of a terror-free, human rights respecting, technologically developed middle-east.

By 2050 the war will be remembered as WWII is remembered by today's Germans. Do todays Germans hate America? Do the Japanese?

It will be the saving grace for Iraq and the middle east - it will get them out of their mud huts smoking their water pipes and into the 21st century, with high paying jobs, luxuries and maybe even a CAR!

Think about the field day the ad-men will have when they can run the "pride of ownership" and "be first on your block" sales stuff used in the 1930's in the 2030's on an emerging middle-east middle class.

I hope the cars are making then are worth a tinkers dam.

I doubt they will be. They'll be all plastic and aluminum numbers which are 99.9% recyclable, with a top speed of 40mph. An economy model from the mid-priced three will cost 115,000 grand.

infinitely vigilant,

SDAI-Tech1