Here is a quote from Wikipedia, under Osama bin Laden:
"According to former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, ...the al-Qaeda leader was motivated by a belief that U.S. foreign policy has oppressed, killed, or otherwise harmed Muslims in the Middle East."
In other words "Muslims hate us for what we do, not who we are."
Now I recognize that bin Ladin also had fanatical Islamic beliefs, but I think that is fairly unique in the Muslim world. Most Muslims do not want to be ruled by autocrats or theocrats. We are seeing evidence of the revolt against theocracy in Iran.
But if you can shake your head free of all-American ideology and just take a look at the world, you can see that the US has its military claws in almost every region of the world. Look at the countries colored dark blue - indicating major military presence.
If you look at the Middle East, the US presence is obvious. Now you and I know the history of why our military is in each of those countries. But Omar the Tent-maker is less concerned about abstract foreign politics, and more concerned wondering if bombs are going to start falling in his country like they did in Libya recently.
It is guys like Omar I want to convince that the US is a nation of peace, not war. To do that we need to take action to become more neutral and less threatening on a mass military scale. Lets make the map of the Middle East look less blue - like South America. We need to show Muslims around the world that the US killed bin Laden and did major damage to al-Qaeda. Now we can get out our soldiers, our ships, and our airplanes out of the Middle East. We can put some distance between ourselves and Israel.
We can leave behind a smaller, covert force to deal with the "Islamofascist mass murderers that attacked the US on 9-11."
However, our goal should be to bring peace to the Middle East - at least in so far as US involvement is concerned. Let things settle down and the terrorist organizations will find far fewer recruits to die as martyrs. Plus, you give a chance for the voices of moderate secular organizations in places like Egypt to be heard. Right now the voices of the Muslim Brotherhood resonate because the US military, and Israel are standing right on their borders.
That's why I say, we fought the good war. Now is a time for peace. We have the most advanced military hardware in the world, and are happy to give weapons to Israel. They should be able to find some security from the fact they have nuclear weapons, the finest army and the most advanced weaponry in the world. We have other political goal to achieve other than keeping Israel safe - they can do that themselves now.
Now is the time we assume the role of Gentle Giant... you know, speak softly but carry a big stick. Maybe my kids can finish out their lives in a country where they don't get strip searched every time they board an airplane! This could be the beginning of the end of the "war on terrorism".
