] However rhetorical it's become, the following is no less
] true: The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks forced the
] United States to change the way it responds to external
] threats. For a very long time, Americans were content to
] believe that this nation's sheer size and distance from
] global hot spots sheltered us from terrorism. In the face
] of a billion tons of ash and human carnage, it became
] clear that we're as vulnerable as anyone else.

this piece has definitely got me thinking in a slightly different direction.

War. Still a Good Idea.