Well, Dan, there's a difference between a terrorist attack (even in a big scale) and a war (the way we understood it until now).
For one, terrorists use surprise and take full advantege of us not being prepared for it and strike once.
Wars are also started by surprise, granted, but they mean invading a country and a much longer process where the effect of surprise vanishes with time, but the resistance can get organized.
The way to counter terrorism is to also attack by surprise, using specially trained police squads, with flashes that paralyze the opponent for a few seconds, enough to neutralize him. That's how the plane was freed in Marseilles.
True, terrorists don't take hostages anymore, they destroy immediately. But investigators must gather the information in order to prevent terrorism at all.
Those who could provide info are in some cases held in Guantanamo and investigators are not allowed to approach them for a long enough time and frequently enough to gather the info.
And now, with president Bush and the press talking about Iraq and Saddam, where's the element of surprise?

Raoull