Wolgang - I can understand your point of view but do not agree with this statement:

"Each government should know that harbouring terrorists can be the end of the government and can force them personally to a life on the run."

How do you know if the government is harbouring terrorists or if terrorists have infiltrated the country?

Seems to me that both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have the largest number of terrorist training camps and yet they are supposedly allies. Who decides if a government is 'harbouring' terrorists? Bin Laden invested in Sudan, don't you think that he has influence in that country as well?

Who will 'end the governments' of those countries? The fact is that we cannot defeat terrorism with conventional warfare.

El Greko you said, "To try and second-guess the specific reasons driving these specific terrorists is futile, no matter what slogans they shout."

I think its pretty clear that they want the U.S. and its allies to leave the Middle East and keep their hands off the resources. They want their own government not something imported from the West. Basically, I think they want control of their own economy.