I agree, the problem is not that there is some middle ground that we should discover, it is that some of the "blame America first" crowd are having trouble getting traction when our enemy flies aircraft full of passengers into skyscrapers.
To his credit, a liberal I know has resolved this in favor of the position that there is not middle ground in this, that the terrorists cannot be appeased, reasoned with, or even believed. This author has not reached that enlightened point and therefore we will have to drop him off the "elitist advice giving list". Sorry, Jason Clemence , you are the weakest link, good bye.