Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 01/23/06 12:23 pm:
America not merely reversed its own past practice of supporting autocrats who pumped oil and kept Communists out, but in staying on after the removal of Saddam Hussein it spent billions of dollars and hundreds of lives to give birth to democracy.
The ripple effect is elections for the first time in not only Iraq but in Egypt ,the Gulf States ;and Syria leaving democratic Lebanon. When hundereds of thousands of Muslims take to the streets they do not protest US action but the murders in Jordan by Zarqawai. We have sent tens of millions of dollars in earthquake relief to Pakistan, even though for over four years it has given de facto sanctuary to the killers responsible for murdering three thousand Americans.

I contend we are winning the so called battle over hearts and minds .Even in Iraq the Baathist insurgents have been doing battle with the jihadists . Look for your news beyond the daily bomb explosion in Baghdad . What OBL did last week was a move of desperation . That is what 'hudna' is ;an attempt out of weakness to fool the enemy into granting a respise until you are strong enough to fight again .

Clarification/Follow-up by CeeBee2 on 01/24/06 12:09 am:
We will further endear ourselves to the Iraqs when they hear of the Bush administration's decision to end the flow of dollars to rebuild the country once the current pot is empty. The original fund, at $18.4B, was large, but was whittled down to pay for security. Funds that had been earmarked for rebuilding projects continue to go astray in astonishing amounts. Only one-fifth remains. Now Washington says it never planned a long-term involvement in the Iraqi economy. Other countries must come forward to complete the rebuilding.

I read yesterday that, on the average, Iraqis enjoy only four hours of electricity a day. The country is still not secure; anyone can be blown up or shot anywhere.

Yeah, we're winning the battle over hearts and minds (and I meant terrorists' hearts and minds, but we haven't won over the ordinary Iraqis' either).

(And OBL is a craftier ol' fox than you give him credit for.)