I think we do have a very difficult situation on our hands as the enemy is hard to define. However, I have read A LOT on the subject and do know we were mocked by Osama Bin Laden when we did so little after our embassies were bombed in Africa and after the U.S.S. Cole was attacked. He said the American people are so weak they have no resolve and will be easy to defeat. So the last thing we needed was Bush being conciliatory. Just like we could not let England fall to Hitler nor the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.
War is horrible but war is sometimes necessary - for now.
It is like trying to reason with a bully - he will laugh at you and just strike you down. I wish everything was simple and we could just join hands and sing Kumbaya - I certainly thought love would conquer all when I was young. War has defined this planet and what has occured ever since man first wanted the property of his neighbor and felt strong enough to take it. I look forward to say a few hundred years from now to a United States of Europe and a United States of Asia. And finally a United States of the world - where there will be no hostile boundaries and all religions will be respected and there will be no trade barriers and things will be solved in a democratic way.