[bwteim]

Good point - but that was a decade ago.

[Atlantic Friend]

Yes. And, coincidence or no coincidence, it's been a decade France wasn't attacked by international terrorists. We can see it both ways : you could say it's because we bought them off, I could say it's because we know how to catch them beforehand (as we did last year with the Islamists preparing an attack against the Russian embassy) or how to pursue them afterward.

By the way, I've read some dimwitted Democrats saying it's "downright suspicious" that US forces haven't captured Osama Ben Laden yet, casting suspicion upon the current administration and being insulting to US and Allied troops deployed in the 'Stans. Should you meet one, please remind them the capture or Carlos the Jackal took 12 years. The thing is, these guys are always caught, eventually, when one shows enough resolve.