What puzzles me is what the Islamic extremists think they have to gain by alienating middle east support for the coalition. Don't they understand that the only reason we are being so cautious on the civilian casualty issue is because we want to keep coalition together? If the extremists become successful in breaking up the middle eastern branch of the coalition, do they really believe we will just pack up and go home? If they are banking on that and turning the tide here in the U.S. by screaming over civilian casualties, I think their plan will backfire. The support for military action here is somewhere in the 70-80% range depending on the poll you read. I doubt seriously that civilian casualties in Afghanistan, or other countries that harbor terrorists will cause the support to drop significantly. Even 60% support in this country is enough to stick to the plan. If Americans start to go soft on the issue of civilian casualties, all that has to be done is to release the unseen tapes of the carnage at the WTC. Images of hundreds of body parts, and body bags with American civilians in them will go a long way to bolstering a majority in support of finishing the job we started.
It was not irrational for these terrorist thugs to calculate that we might not have the stomach for all-out war. After all, beginning with the shameful Somalia debacle, all Clinton did was puss around with these guys. (Good God, remember Les Aspin?) And yet, the American people re-elected the bastard!
And, after the Florida vote count fiasco, who could blame them for concluding that America was a silly, soft, divided nation ripe for attack. After all, the Sore Loserman faction has never stopped chanting that George W. Bush isn't really a legitimate President.
But the fact is that Bush DID WIN, and no amount of looney liberal spinning and whining can change that. The libs told the world that our President was a stupid drunk, a daddy's boy to be regarded only with contempt, and worse. They did everything in their power to diminish his credibility in the eyes of the world, in general, and in the estimation of America's enemies, in particular. As far as I'm concerned, it is THEY who have blood on their hands.
But Bush the cartoon is not Bush the man. The terrorists and their looney lib enablers made the fatal mistake of believing their own propaganda, and it has come around to bite them in the ass, big time.