Hope you're right about official caution. The NY Times has an article today noting that the WTC/Pentagon terrorists don't fit the usual profile of terrorists, "A Terrorist Profile Emerges That Confounds the Experts" (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/15/national/15SUIC.html). It notes in part:
"Preliminary evidence about the suspected terrorists ... suggests that they were not reckless young men facing dire economic conditions and dim prospects but men as old as 41 enjoying middle-class lives. Just last week, even those numbed to suicide bombings in Israel were shocked by the latest incident there because the perpetrator, an Israeli Arab, was 48 and a father.
"Experts called it too early to say what the demographic differences might mean about the shifting dynamics of international terrorism. Perhaps, they said, loyalty to Osama bin Laden is even more powerful than the religious and nationalist fanaticism that has been behind other suicide attacks. Perhaps the size of the target attracted more sophisticated candidates. Or perhaps the hatred of the United States and Western culture is seeping into a broader spectrum of the world's disaffected populations."
If the latter claim is true, precipitate military action could easily lead to Tom Friedman's eagerly sought World War III. The wiser course obviously would be to address the sources of disaffection. But attacking causes not symptoms isn't the macho, feel-good option that the US wants. We're more interested in primal-scream therapy than in seeing that something like this doesn't happen again.
Carl
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