Think about the probable consequence of the U.S. fighting countries that support terrorism, through any means. When a superpower, such as the U.S. is hit, they generally just hit back - a little harder. But what happens if you're the one that's getting hit by the superpower? You can't bomb them back. You can't really send an army over there - they'd wipe your country off the face of the earth. What you can do, however, is tell your people who is responsible for the sanction that is causeing your children to die in the thousands from a lack of something they need to import. You can tell your people who is responsible for the bombs that are going off in your country, and you can tell them who is supplying the radical groups that want to overthrow the government with the weaponry they need to become dangerous. What you end up with are thousands of people who hate the U.S. badly enough to become soldier-fanatics. This is where terrorism comes from - it is the only way these people can fight back. It doesn't really matter if it was them or us who threw the first punch - the fight will continue indefinately unless we dont escalate it. The answer to this problem is not to punish entire countries for the actions of the government, or to supply radicals with weapons to punish the country for us. The answer can only be to help the countries that birth terrorist organizations evolve enough so that the average person does not need to become a terrorist or a radical in order to feed his children. When this is done, then you can move in and take out the terrorist organizations - they wont just spring up again as soon as you leave, because there is no need for them any longer.