@Lusty - "fixing" root causes of terrorism
How do you go about that without risking making things worse? Let them solve their own problems, provide non-military aid if requested to help them solve their own problems but leave them in control of their own destiny. If that destiny is civil war, well that's too bad, but the west should not be taking sides in them. We can provide humanitarian aid, subject to guarantees it actually reaches the people who need it regardless of which side they're on. We can help them rebuild when the fighting is over. We should not be supplying weapons or military advisers. We definitely should not be encouraging civil war, or the violent overthrow of any legitimate government (even if that legitimate government is run by a petty tyrant)
Roddenbury's "Prime Directive" from Star Trek was a not so subtle hint at how the US should be engaging with other countries from a time when Vietnam was in the process of escalating.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
