Time for a new plan

Democrats feel certain that Bush's handling of Iraq and terrorism is wrong; it's been harder for them to agree on an alternative proposal for either that is easy to explain and resonates widely. Wes Clark offers one suggestion that is pretty coherent for a better way to think about and deal with terrorim.

Preventing attacks probably can't be accomplished by the administration's preference for taking out "state sponsors." And it's going to be very difficult to employ military means. National intelligence efforts, special police activities and local community policing efforts, which focus on identifying and targeting terrorist individuals and organizations, are required.
. . .
But fighting terrorism at home isn't just a matter of "killing terrorists." Terrorists aren't born that way. They are created by their interaction with their surroundings. To win this war, we must defeat the ideology of terrorism, depriving angry young people of their ability to justify their hateful actions in the name of Allah.
. . .
The United States will win the war on terror when we bring to bear all the elements of our power — not just our military might, civilian workforce and diplomatic skills, but also the power to persuade our allies in general and those in the Muslim community specifically to engage the culture of hate and terror and change it to reflect the best in all of us.

Lots of other good stuff in there. Too bad nobody listens to the minority party anymore...

(via Armando at dailyKos)