Great article Neg, there are just a few things I would like to point out.

You have taken the current terrorist attacks and compared them to the fascism of the 1930s, asking whether we are on the brink of World War III. But, I don't think that our current situation can be compared to the Nazi regime before and during WWII. Germany, at that time, was controlled by the Nazis who decided to attempt world conquest through military force and terror. Osama Bin Laden is not the ruler of Afghanistan (or any other country) as Hitler was of Germany. Saddam Hussein is the dictator of Iraq, but, due to the past US actions in Iraq, that country does not possess the factories and resources to built an army like that of Hitler. So, I don't think that we are actually on the brink of WWIII in the classical sense, where every country takes a side, they start invading neighboring countries, and the fight it out on battlefields using the traditional weapons of war. The war we are facing is different than any war that we, as a world, have ever seen before.

It is true that conservatives in the US government have used terrorism to push their own political agendas, and I think that is deplorable, but that doesn't mean that there was a vast conspiracy of conservatives to let Bin Laden live so that he could attack the US, as you seem to suggest in your article. George W. Bush is pushing for a war in Iraq, and that is a completely political motive for him. With support for his "war on terror" waning, he needs a new enemy so that he can keep his approval rating up; that enemy is Iraq. It is my belief that Iraq does not posses any nuclear weapons, though they probably hope they did, because it would give them a bargaining chip to use against US invasion. That invasion seems to be getting more and more inevitable as time goes on. It seems almost a forgone conclusion that the United States will invade Iraq; the only question that seems to remain up in the air is what other countries are going to do in response to US actions.

I do not think that Europe will suddenly decide to rise up and oppose the United States. England and the US have had a tradition of backing each other for decades, even through controversial wars, such as Britain in the Falkland Islands, or US in Iraq Version 1.0. I don't think Britain will suddenly decide to back out on their tradition of mutual support with the United States, and, being one of the driving forces in Europe, I think Britain’s decision will be one of the deciding factors for the rest of the continent.

Are we hading into a conflict with an invisible enemy called "terror," yes I think we are. The US will probably be its stubborn self and do what it wants regardless of European pressure, because that's what the US has always done. The war that will happen is going to be different than any other, because I don't think it is a war that can ever be won. As long as there exists a country or a person who has power, and there are other people who don't have power or money, those people will try to do whatever they have to do to opposed the source of their oppression - the powerful nation. With limited resources, their only means of resistance and attack will be through guerrilla warfare and terrorist attacks.

The war that has begun is a war that will have no ending...there is no point at which terrorism will be completely eradicated. Hopefully someone in power realizes this before the entire world is entered into an endless conflict with a phantom enemy.