Like it wasn't obvious

A number of studies on the background and motivation of suicide bombers have concluded that basically "It's Not Who We Are, It's What We Do". People with common sense already knew that, but actual studies are always a good idea.

This is a really good article which examines terrorist attacks, US foreign policy and discusses possible short term solutions. I especially found interesting Wolfowitz's purported thinking regarding terrorism and Iraq - we should withdraw from Saudi Arabia, but that leaves the region destabilized (especially with Saddam still around). So, we remove Saddam and withdraw from Saudi Arabia into Iraq. Not an ideal solution, but I can see why it was seen as a good/necessary strategic move. A large contingent of US troops will be stationed in Iraq (about as central as you can get in the Middle East) to stabilize this volatile and (my) precious region.

Long term it makes a lot of sense and could justify the short term loss of life. Ah, a controversial statement!! That's what politics is all about though - do we lose a 1,000 lives today to save 100,000 in the long term? The biggest problem, of course, is that we need to lose those 1,000 lives now in order to potentially save 100,000 lives later. Hard decisions, but someone has to make them.