For years people in the US, with the knowledge (nod and a wink) of the US govt., funded the IRA who killed and maimed completely innocent people in Ulster and mainland Britain. The unwillingness of the US to crack down on IRA fundinf from the US was a longstanding irritant in UK-US relations. By your analysis the US declared war on Great Britain?

There are only two ways to deal with terrorists and other free-range political pyschopaths. One is to treat them as criminals – as per Carlos the “Jackal”. Its about PR and spin. In the eyes of their potential supporters, declaring war put Al-Qaeda on an equal footing with their enemies. By declaring war, Bush morphed Al-Qaeda’s public image in the rougher parts of the Middle East from a bunch of obscure losers to glorious warriors overnight. This was dumb.

The second workable tactic is to discredit the terrorist leadership in the eyes of their support base; for example, if it were more widely known that Bin-Laden and his main men are homosexual -I don’t know if he is but who cares- perhaps he would have less appeal for the kids in the Middle East who idolize him.