The government collects 50% of our money and has the best and biggest military in the world. If we don't have the resource to have an MP presence in every town, we better find one. I suggest, our government stops wasting its resources on (a) countries that don't attack us, such as Haiti or the Balkans (b) projects that are not its core function, such as education, medical care and business regulation, and concentrates of that which is a matter of national defense.
intended trap
That would be carpet-bombing from Algiers to Karachi and getting out as rapidly as possible, waiting for the level of sympathy for the friendly Yanks to rise. Getting our hands dirty on the ground was not expected by bin Laden after his dust-up with the glorious Clinton Administration, and that is precisely what needs to be done.
We had better constrain it to a police action
I agree, but what is your definition of a police action? Mine is a cop on the beat in the neighborhood, and that is what I am proposing here.