[q=DocFrance]Terrorism is evil. Terrorism is defined by deliberately attacking innocent civillians in an attempt to instill terror in the populace. How could that not be evil?[/q]That's exactly what the allies did to countries such as Germany and Japan during the Second World War.[q=DocFrance]Well, we are hitting back, but that's not all we're doing. We're also improving things over there so that they don't feel the need to hit us any more.[/q]That, and inadvertently killing thousands of innocent bystanders in the process, then refusing to be accountable for their deaths, in spite of the fact that they're not only foreseeable but expected. Imagine if Al Qaeda said that the World Trade Center buildings were their real target, and the people inside were merely "collateral casualties" and not a real concern... don't think anyone would feel better.[q=eestlinc]I agree that rebuilding and fixing Iraq/Afghanistan/etc is good, but there is also the problem that the whole attitude of "let us come in and fix your problems/show you the way" is very insulting to many people of the world.[/q]Definitely. Some US leaders, be they political or military, are fond of observing that only their country knows how things "should" be done, and that anyone else just doesn't have a clue.

"Bringing tolerance and unity to the world" won't be achieved by forcing everyone to become the same; that'll just breed more discontent.

On a side note... actually, this's related to the thread's original topic:

Suppose someone thinks that Chechnya should be given independence. Is that person "evil"? After all, they are expressing the same views as Islamic terrorists...