My biggest problem is, who is “they”? Is one or more “rings” of terrorist extremists? Is it the countries that have allowed them to exist within their bordeors, or actively supported them?
I trust any response will depend on answering that question.
-I certainly do not wish to be involved in a protracted war in Afghanistan. Russia had enough experience with that.
-Maybe we could support the resistance forces in Afgh? But, we supported the Taliban against Russia, and that didn’t turn out too hot.
-I do not know the resources of our military/intelligence, but I suspect it is somewhat less than assured that we would be able to get OBL quickly and easily. Tho I do support repealing the executive order against assassination.
-Do we penalize the entire country for the acts of what may be a minority? How many dying babies will Americans tolerate on TV?
-Moreover, assuming for a moment that this action was a response to our previous actions in the Arab world, we must acknowledge that our actions tomorrow will similarly have repercussions. If we carpet bomb Afghanistan, will that encourage additional Arabs to hate the US and take action on those convictions?
-We may make it nigh impossible for anyone to hijack a plane and fly it into crowded buildings, but then there are: car bombs; bombs strapped to your body and won into bars, museums, schools, hospitals, sporting events, etc.; sniping opportunities; etc.
-There also is the legitimate concern of not lowering yourself to their level. No number of dead muslim civilians will bring Tuesday’s dead back to life.
-OTOH, perhaps the only effective response is to kill not only the perpetrators, but their spouses, children, family, friends, etc. Fight terror with terror.
As long as folk exist who think their quickest route to heaven lies across dead American bodies, a risk remains. The question is how to minimize that risk, without overly burdening ourselves.
Bottomline, this situation does not have a simple certain solution. I’m not saying any one of these factors dictates that we act one way or another. Just it kind of bothers me when I hear folk talk simplistically as tho we just have to go in somewhere with guns a blazing to teach those bastards a lesson.