In light of the recent Fort Hood shooting and the debate on whether to increase troop levels in Afghanistan, it is interesting to note the obvious: fighting “terrorism” in Afghanistan has absolutely no effect whatsoever on the ability of any crazy person or groups of crazy people to perpetrate heinous acts within the U.S. Had we already been fighting in Afghanistan pre-911 (before the Patriot Act, domestic surveillance of emails and phone calls, extraordinary rendition, black sites, Guantanamo, torture, drones, and countless civilian collateral damage), we would not have prevented the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, nor the Madrid bombings, nor the ones in London.
And yet, we fight on. There will be blood. Americans demand it, somewhere, anywhere, to whomever. Just far away from home.
Grave Error 
Totally off-topic, when are you going to write about the Health Reform by Obama? I wait eagerly for your analysis.
I have written about it, just not for a while. I do have an upcoming post about my experience with the Spanish health care system, that may help to highlight how other systems work.
The major problem with any health care reform in the U.S. is that corporate interests are so embedded in the Democratic party that “real” reform is practically impossible.