"4. casting the war as one against terrorism rather than against militant Islam.
Terrorism is a means by which our enemy is fighting the war; it is not the enemy. His repeated uterances of "religion of peace" have not been helpful to force us to see the true enemy in this battle of civilizations."
This is the biggest blunder. Too much PC about what the arabs "think". After 911 the response as you mentioned was awsome and justified. Even Iraq to me was a gamble but one that could pay long-term dividends. I told my business partner just after 911 the smartest thing to do would be to invest 1 trillion dollars into nuclear plants and synthetic biodiesels. Then you can dictate whatever policy you want instead of kissing ass to the wrong people.
I have had a similar thought. Since we do not have the political will in this country to fully take advantage of our own oil resources, the best approach for the West (including Israel) would be to invest in technology to produce a cheap alternative source of energy to oil. This would leave the Arabs with useless oceans of gooey black substance that no one wanted.
You are right: PC is killing us.