It's not just about Iraq and the U.S.

Let me holler this as loud as possible, because there are still people out there who do not get it: the terrorism raining down on the Western world is not just about the U.S. and Iraq (a hard position to maintain in any event given that the terror predates Iraq). Al Qaeda has bigger goals and they're not shy about announcing them:

Al-Qaeda's four-stage plan is clearly detailed: expelling the U.S. forces from Iraq, creating a caliphate over as much of Iraq as possible, expanding jihad to neighboring countries, specifically Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and war against Israel. "I want to be the first to bless you on what God has blessed you with - fighting in the heart of the Muslim world that was a battleground for large historic Islamic wars and what is now the place of Islam's greatest war in the present era," Zawahiri said in the letter. "The 'Mujaheddin' or warriors must not be allowed to end their mission with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq, and then lay down their weapons," he said. "Then we will return to having the secularists and traitors govern us."

Al Qaeda has its eyes on its own Islamic countries -- Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon -- none of which the anti-War Left can pretend is lumped into the America vs. Iraq rubric. Please, please, make no mistake -- these are angry people with an agenda that transcends any one conflict. They want to control the world and, while that may not happen (despite Europe's vast Fifth Column), unless someone, or some country, takes a stand, there will be rivers of innocent blood spilled, making the death toll in Iraq look like nothing. See also: Let's abandon the "blame the victim" mentality