We are already in an all-out war against "terrorists everywhere." What more can we do on the offensive front? (On the defensive front, we could clamp down tight on border security. .....something that should've been done a long time ago). So the only thing left to do offensively is what we did in Iraq and Afghanistan -- take out terrorist-sponsoring (and harboring) regimes themselves. But who next? ....Syria?.....Iran? Or do we take out the center of Islam itself?
We are not in an all-out war. How many factories in your town
have stopped making widgets and converted to production of war materials?
Have you been issued your gasoline ration card?
Are there still young men in your town that haven't been activated?
How many times in the last year has the front page of your paper
had the headline "Capitol of rag country (fill in the blank) gone?"
Few of us here at home have been effected directly by this WOT,
as would be the case if it was a real all-out war.
We're not anywhere near "all-out" war footing, as evidenced by the continued existance of several ME nations.
Offensively one SSBN could put a stop to the rag terrorism in 15 minutes. That's all-out war.
We won't do it though, because they're not a nation destroying treat to us.
We also like to think of ourselves as civilized.