The terms of "terrorism" and "Al-Qaeda" are so plastic, that no one is going to really pay attention to when the government slings them around. And let's note that the financial nerve center of AQ is the House of Saud, whom we've seemed to avoid Western wrath since 9/11.

I'm proposing talking about these issues in terms of the actual (largely commercial, on both sides) interests involved, instead of amorphous terms like "protecting our freedom". In the name of protecting "freedom", the United States has propped up totalitarian and brutally oppressive regimes in countries all over the world. Maybe it's time they start using a different buzzword to describe their goals.

IF the US does that right, they might even get the chance to stop arming, training and empowering the next generation's enemies.