having said that... GoOrdnance is right- that all previous administrations either responded proportionally, or not at all to terrorist strikes against Americans... the American public was all too comfortable in this tit for tat form of justice, as the ghosts of Viet Nam altered and skewed their perceptions (think quagmire)...
to digress... I was in the military (Army-airborne) stationed at Ft Bragg, NC, living in a WWII barracks at the end of a runway at Pope AF Base when we invaded Grenada... to a man, Grenada was the last place on Earth that any of us thought was the target for invasion... over 250 U S Marines had been killed in Beirut less than 30 days previously, so it was quite obvious where we were going... incredibly, Grenada was the destination...
the message that this sent to terrorists was devastating and would have a lasting effect on the U S and conversely would embolden the worst of the worst to continue the attacks on America as we were not willing to pay the price... Beirut was the model... we put our tails between our legs and retreated stateside... our present Commander in Chief, along with his administration, and the might and sword of U S military power, are prosecuting those that would do America harm... slowly, we are rectifying a long over due, horribly ineffective, dangerous policy of equitable retaliation...