Can we rationally discuss the 'War on Terror'? & other related issues? [View All]

It's a new day. The crisis of yesterday is already waning....can we sit and have a calm discussion of just what is not working on Bush & Blair's War on Terror? Can we discuss what just may work?

Let's assume for a minute that the threat presented to us at Heathrow yesterday was in fact genuine (I know many doubt that thought, even the esteemed BBC is prefacing many of their reports with...."if this threat proves to be true"...but for the sake of argument let's just take it as a fact that the threat was indeed real shall we?). Assuming that, exactly what could Bush and Blair have done differently over the last 5 years in order to make this world a better place?

Some thoughts that spring to my mind are:

1. After 9/11, meet with our allies and even our non-allies at the time who still had some sympathy for innocent civilians being attacked. Form new alliances, work with each other to identify problem areas around the world and formulate a strategy for dealing with Terrorist Cells. Surely if we truly shared intelligence we may have a chance at preventing future attacks.
2. Security at home and abroad. What have we done wrong? Is giving up civil liberties and rights really the answer? Maybe we can give up some in exchange for a more peaceful & safe world, but not all......what exactly are we willing to give up? By giving up certain rights are we giving in and could we cause potential for abuse by our governments? How can we avoid that? Can we treat everyone fairly and equitably?
3. Iraq - not exactly a terrorist hot spot 5 years ago, but let's review our policy there. Were sanctions keeping them contained? Well....yes. Were they cooperating with UN Inspection Teams? Probably not.....Instead of barging in willy nilly and blowing the country to pieces, destroying the infrastructure....we might just could have taken a different approach to get rid of Saddam if indeed we even needed to get rid of him. What can we do today to make steps toward solving the quagmire? Some would argue the withdrawal of our troops. Are we doing any good there now? How can we withdraw our troops and not have the country sink any further? Is it even possible at this point?
4. Identify the root causes of terrorism. We know that most terrorist cells target young, impressionable men who are dissatisfied in some way with the way things are going in their world. All many have known is war, poverty, discrimination and perceived threats on their cultures way of life. Many are recruited thru institutions affiliated with their religious life. Can we change that? I think we can if we apply ourselves to the problem....but how to go about it?
5. Funding of terrorist activities? Surely if we work together across the world we could identify how and where these activities are being funded and cut off the money supply.
6. Foreign Policy - let's review that. Rather than blindly supporting one side in an argument between warring factions could we at least attempt to be a peacemaker? And while we are at it, could we not review how monetary expenditures are meted out? Do we really need to give some areas of the world so much in defense spending? Is that really the way for peace? Could we put conditions on our aid? In other words, if our money is spent to keep some areas of the native population in subjugation do we want to keep our funding flowing?
7. Globalism - it's an increasingly smaller world out there. We need to address the issues that affect us all.....and by all I mean the entire planet.What can we do to bring third world countries out of poverty and raise up their standards of living? Water, a highway system to bring in the outside world, education, medicine, food?.... The environment....drought, flood, global warming, pollution, industrialization......all need to be addressed and addressed with input from all sides.