Here is another idea:

The war on terror has masked the real battle in the post cold war era. If the desires of Arabs and Muslims for self determination is allowed to take hold by ex-colonialist and current imperialists the need for war on terror will disappear as well. We will then have to confront terror in much different way.

First of all the few extremists that will not benefit from stability will have to fight their own people and it will not be a US alone conflict. Second, there will be so much constructive discussions that few extremists will not find an ear or support to mount a major attack of any kind.

BUT THE KEY HEAR IS the west, EU and US will have to remove the hegemony cock out of the middle east ass. This will either happen voluntarily because it will provide for West security and safety. Or, Arabs and Muslims will to take that on for themselves. The only problem is that this way it will take a very long time since Arabs and Muslims are not historically and culturally ready for such take over yet.

West can however be a catalyst to speed up the process of bringing the Arabs and Muslims to full participation governance.

One of many factors that can expedite the process is for a fresh US government in Nov 2nd. May be then we can have a new start without the old bad blood. The compassionate conservatives in US have shown that they are not capable of global governance. They are so entrenched in dogmatic form that leading a pluralistic world is not possible. When you have leaders that so openly talk about will of GOD an doing God's work, there is no way in hell they can deal with realities of the world let alone understanding them.