Ok well that has been done. Remember that they have already declared a formal jihad against the US. Which makes it now religiously sanctioned to carry out these atrocities against us. Are we going to *wait* now until they spray thousands and thousands of people with anthrax or the like before we respond? You asked for information which would prove his motivation to use these weapons, and I gave it to you... but now you're saying that they have to ACT first? Then why didn't you say that in the first place?
Beliefs determine action. One can hold certain beliefs for a long time before he sees fit to act on them. We should be about changing people's beliefs/hearts, because by doing so we will change their actions. However sometimes we realize it is too late to change their beliefs without extreme danger to innocent (legally speaking, not morally speaking) people.
When I said 'start a Jihad,' I meant governments sponsoring acts of violence against us on the basis of religious fervor. I could declare a Crusade against the Moslems right now, and it would mean exactly nothing. If the Pope did it, it would mean, technically, exactly nothing so far as the US is concerned: only the Senate can declare war, not the Pope.
Similarly, if some Moslem holy guy declared a Jihad against the US, it might give individuals the feeling they could act against us, but on a governmental level, no war would exist, and those who conduct acts against our country would not be soldiers or foreign combatants, but criminals.
If a foreign power knows that a Jihad has been declared by a non-governmental agency, and that its citizens were taking part in the call, then it is obligated to intervene. Failure to intervene makes the government an accomplice to criminal acts on a foreign nation and greviences can be lodged against it. Eventually, a war could be declared based on the idea that if the government of the offending citizens will not act to reign in its own people, then the offended country has the right to protect itself.
Iraq has not, so far as I know, directly sponsered terrorist acts against other countries, nor have I heard that Iraqi citizens have been involved in acts of terrorism against the US. OTOH, I *have* heard that many citizens involved in criminal acts against the US were from Saudi Arabia: what sort of steps is the government of that country taking to ensure that such actions cease? And if they cannot or will not stop their own citizens from criminally attacking other countries, at what point will we step in and do it for them, for our own self-defense?
It seems to me that if we have greviences with any Middle Eastern country right now, it would be those whose citizens were involved in the crimes committed against us on 9/11.
Tuor