"What would Al-Qaeda gain from destabilising Turkey/" A powerful ally of America and a member of NATO, slap bang in the middle of it all - no it's very hard to see why Al Qaeda would wish to do anhything to destabilise a country like that, and perhaps bring about a situation in which the US miitary came into conflict with the Turks.

"Under such an onslaught do you seriously believe that the will of America to continue to be involved in the conflict would dissipate" What has my personal beliefgs about this got to do weith it? What matters are the beliefs of the people promoting the attacks.

It seems quite reasonable to surmise that they might well believe that America will not have the political stamina to keep on with this, for maybe a couple of generations, and that under the internal stresses set up, it will retreat into some kind of Fortress America. The aim would be to try to bring about a situation in which America mishandles things in such a way as to generate ever greater opposition.

In any conflict it is likely that people will find themselves facing the question "Which side are you on?" The hope of Al Qaida must be to set things up so that large numbers of people decide that question in a way that sets them against the USA and its friends.