911 was an ephipany that enabled many here to envision a small taste of what a nuke in a US city might do. The rise of Islamic extremism and its many breeding grounds finally had to be dealt with. We tried NOT dealing with Islamofascists vigorously after the FIRST World Trade Center attack and after the initial embassy bombings and after the USS Cole bombing. Didn't work too well. Afghanistan and now Iraq are beginning steps of many in dealing effectively with that issue. Were the stakes just a few terrorist attacks here and there downing say an airliner or so maybe it would not be worth the effort and the response would be out of proportion to the risks, but at least some of us realize that the stakes are far higher. Me, I'm not going to stand by and elect officials who will fail to vigorously root out worldwide sources of fanatics who fervently believe nuking or smallpoxing my entire line of decendants is a divine quest.

Thankfully, we have clear strategic thinkers like Rice & Woolfie and compelling writers like Den Beste and Ralph Peters.