Should come as no surprise, but I would say that Strick has got it about right.

The imperative that the US HAD to find WMD in Iraq, is not the case, and it never was. The issue on WMD was related to what UNSCOM said Iraq had but could not account for - That was what needed resolving, and to greater degree than ever before that matter has now been resolved.

It is also rather dangerous to bandy phrases such as "terrorist states" about without actually defining what you mean by "a terrorist state". You would have to stretch any real meaning of the phrase to include Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the governments of which are under as much, if not more, of a threat from terrorists within their borders, as the terrorists declared and identified targets abroad.

Saudi Arabia, has long realised that it has to reform it's method of government, its education system and legal system. It has moved against clerics who have advocated violence (over 1,300 of them removed).

That Pakistan assisted the Taleban is not surprising, but the Taleban they, "set up and supported", were the Taleban that were fighting the Russians back in the eighties. Late "cold war period", India had close ties with the USSR, so Pakistan acted as the natural channel for assistance from the west, Iran could hardly have been used, particularly for assistance coming from the US and Saudi Arabia. They certainly do not support them now.

To "clean up" the tribal lands on the North-West Frontier, would require an effort similar to the Highland Clearances, nobody in history has ever managed to "clean it up". Various rulers have attempted to controlled it, normally by intimidation or bribery. They were all partially successful, but only for a while and without ever finding a lasting solution.

With regard to the, "blatantly political anti-western madrassas which indoctrinate 1000s of young men with hatred and preach a worldwide islamic revolution". The Pakistani government has acted against them, but such schools can so easily go underground, where their teachings are that much more difficult to counter. The Pakistani Government are making great efforts to come to some form of harmonious, and lasting, relationship with India, because that is where Pakistan sees its future. Without having to keep looking over their shoulders towards the East, the crack-down on the terrorist and radical groups within Pakistan will increase and become more effective. The better relations get between India and Pakistan, the more prosperous Pakistan will become. The more prosperous Pakistan becomes the less support there will be amongst the youth of the country for radical, or terrorist groups.