Before anyone flames me posting this question in GD, I’d like to let you know that prior to doing so I emailed the mods and the admins and asked whether it was an appropriate question to ask at this time, and if it was, how I could phrase it and in what forum I should post it in order for it not to be perceived as an anti-US troll post.
My personal viewpoint is that we can’t be selective about which terrorists we target, and that if this “war on terrorism” is to have any credibility whatsoever then it cannot simply end with the capture of bin Laden and the eradication of al-Quaeda. We (and as I’m not a US resident or citizen, I’m referring to the Western world coalition) simply cannot expect to have any credibility or achieve our aims if the only terrorists we target are those of another colour or another religion.
I, personally, will not be happy until my nation enacts laws which allow the freezing of terrorist funds held by people residing in both allied and hostile nations. If this truly is a war on terrorism, then we should be just as willing to freeze the funds of the extremist organisations which pose no direct threat to us as we are to freeze the funds of those who have links to those with whom we are currently engaged in war. Not every terrorist organisation in the world is Muslim or Middle Eastern, and unless we’re prepared to pursue the terrorists who look a lot like us and worship the same God as we (the proverbial “we”- I’m an atheist) do, then I think that we have no right whatsoever to be claiming any kind of moral high ground.