Senate report concludes: no proof of contact between

[kandrathe]

I think this sentence shows you are thinking to easy about this (and such a) subject.
The criminal and 'dopeheads' are not born like that, they don't have a gene which says they will be dopeheads.
That is why the action taken to arrest these people, also influence the behavior of people.The war in Iraq had as a direct consequence that there was a huge increase in terrorism. Not because the people living there are inherently bad, but because the behavior of the west creates terrorism. Bush, Blair, Berlusconi and Balkenende know this, they are not stupid (well Bush and Berlusconi maybe yes) they did what they did for a reason. Terrorism is good for their reelections, the chance that these person themselves (or their family) will become victim is incredibly small, so what do they care. They just know that fear is good to get reelected.
(of course the Blair situation is very strange....his behavior was very Tory....so what will happen there I'm not sure)

Ah, but your attitude is also telling of where you see the problem. Apologists for dope heads point to their poor environment, and the duty of the society to offer them a better opportunity, education, etc. That is correct to some extent in that there needs to be an upward path from their bad life, but also the dope head chooses to be one. There are plenty of examples of poor people, even former dope heads that have turned their lives around and made better choices. The dope heads are guilty of a bad choice, and we need to hold them accountable for their bad choices to not enable and encourage the dope head lifestyle.

The behavior of the west does not create terrorism, that is the line of BS you are fed and choose to swallow. Just as prosperity of hard working people, does not cause poverty. People choose to express their discontent, mostly with their own governments repression, by blaming the West. We can discuss if buying oil from rich oil sheiks is wrong, or selling them F16 fighters, or having diplomatic relationships with these same corrupt regimes is grounds for terrorism. There was this time called the Cold War, where the US and the USSR used their intelligence agencies and puppet regimes to fight a bunch of little proxy wars all over the globe. The middle east was a major part of that struggle, and now in the aftermath, we all need to help form sensible, people affirming, peaceful governments in that region. Is that a bad idea?