This was asked a while ago and it's tough finding an answer that would be, "yes, that without doubt would resolve the entire situation in every way." The situation is so complex, I don't know if there is such an answer.
My thoughts are that we (every country) need to rely on long-term police-type action (that action throughout the world is what is disrupting/dismantling the terrorist network), with more accurate and intensive intelligence gathering, and the U.S. especially needs to make an attempt to consider how it all evolved in the first place and to address those issues; NOT TO EXCUSE anything, just to look at things broadly, rather than in a "we're all good, they're all bad" way. Those actions are all long-term and much of it behind the scenes and not at all instant gratification or cowboyish, very un-American and completely un-Bushish. Bombing a country until its residents cower or die will do nothing but lead to decades of hatred of the U.S. for its bullying and deadly behavior. More hatred, more determined terrorists. Oh, yes, I know there already ARE terrorists... well, let's find them and figure out what to do with them, punishment, trial, execution, prison, whatever fits the specifics... and not create millions more, some of whom aren't even born yet. Americans have a short memory. People in other countries do not. The moral argument Bush uses of liberating Iraqis is convenient for him and isn't believable. Saddam killed thousands of his own people in 1988; in 1989 aid to Iraq from the U.S. was doubled, given by Bush One. Saddam was then our ally against Iran, so the U.S. couldn't be bothered in 1989 by the way Saddam had just killed thousands of his own people. Now, Bush Two has that as one of his righteous concerns. Yeah, right. As a side issue, an extremely important one, the world must find a way to deal with every leader who slaughters his own people, and not pick and chose when to be morally concerned based solely on self-interest. It's no wonder so many people in the world do not believe Bush's concern about the Iraqi people. Obviously Saddam and his cronies are harming innocent citizens, and Saddam needs to be deposed, the sooner the better. Again, targeted covert action (and I'm thinking giving the people there support and a way to choose another leader) would be preferable in my mind to a mass killing, which Saddam and cronies will probably escape anyway. Where, for example, is Osama? And regarding all that bombing in Afghanistan, which I agreed with because most of it was targeting the Taliban so I can't claim to always be anti-war (admirable as that is to me), I think it's a mistake to now have so few military people in Afghanistan, when supposedly "we" (the U.S.) were going to assist in rebuilding that country (hey, even *I* believed that one). Why is there so little news now about what's happening there? The last I read is that the warlords are taking over again, which is what set up the environment for the Taliban in the first place, and that the only "secure" area is Kandahar itself, and even that security is precarious. The U.S. again has not kept its promise. Why would anyone think we'll keep the rebuilding promise in Iraq either? That's enough for awhile. Usually I manage to stay out of the discussion here. Yesterday's raised security alert, and since then hearing more sirens than usual, seeing policemen talking to everyone who's manning the doorways of buildings in the neighborhood, seeing National Guard members in fatigues that look designed for camouflage in a city (whitish, with some gray)... it's impossible to avoid thinking about this stuff. I love this city so much, and with every conversation I have, often with people raised in places I have no direct experience of, I am reminded how much I love the people that live here. From my perspective, Bush's actions are making us all more vulnerable and will not solve anything. I would expect the people in every other place to have such personal and intense emotions also, even if their specifics don't match mine. Good luck everyone. Debra Shea, in NYC
