Here's a question for everyone...

[Qwikshot]

All this talk of Iraq, but here's the bigger question...Usatoday reports that the Al-Qaeda seek to top 9/11, Bali, etc...

Let's say they succeed, perhaps they actually do poison the London Underground with Ricin during rush hour, or they release smallpox into Europe, or perhaps they cause a nuclear power planet explosion in the U.S., or we find that dirty bombs have been littered around like confetti all over Britain, Australia, mainland Europe and U.S.

What would be the U.S. next step after recovery? Where is there left of the Al-Qaeda to hide cept in cells throughout our countries, the Arabian penninsula, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Southeast Asian cells, South American cells...how do you attack the invisible enemy once Iraq has been toppled (which will probably happen)?

This is not a for or against post for the war on Iraq, this is more about what do we do after the most obvious areas that could be attacked are no longer viable? North Korea wouldn't be on the list.

Just curious for all the smarter people out there...

[dawgfan]

Short-term strategy is to snuff them where you find them. Traditionally this is the realm of covert operations rather than full-blown military operations. Afghanistan was the exception. I don't think you'll see another operation like that unless Saudi Arabia falls to Islamic fundamentalists, which is a possibility in the aftermath of a U.S. operation in Iraq.

Long-term, you need to reduce the motivations for terrorists to act, limit the facilitation of terrorists developing. How best to do this? Encourage the development of more educated, economically viable and democratic governments in the areas where terrorists develop. Work to establish positive links with Islamic countries and try to reduce the perception of the U.S. as an enemy of Muslim peoples.

[BishopMVP]

Take out Saudi Arabia. Hit them in the wallet.

[WussGawd]

Step One: Develop hybrid cars or fuel cell cars to cut dependence on foreign oil.

For all the hue and cry over Arianna Huffington's recent ad campaign equating SUVs with terrorists, there is a grain of truth. The facts are that Saddam and Osama are no more brutal than similar regimes past or present in Latin America or Africa. The difference is, the West is so dependent on foreign oil we're strung out like junkies. It gives a**holes like Saddam and Osama tons of money to push their extremism.

Imagine what the cold war would have been like if we had been put in the position of importing oil (or some other strategic raw material) from the USSR. Imagine how it crippled the USSR to have to import grain from the US and Canada all those years.

I think we need to develop a balanced foreign policy that pushes Israel to make meaningful concessions to the Palestinians to secure a peace deal. The Palestinian situation is a festering point of anger in Middle East-US relations, and an easy rallying cry for the Osamas of the world to arouse hatred for the US. There will be no true peace in the Middle East until this problem is solved.

Press for the granting of human rights in "friendly" countries in the Middle East...the only true democracies in the region are Turkey and Israel. Democratization would go a long way toward easing tensions, and would lead to more stable governments.