When did it Begin?

Most Americans feel that our war with Islamic fundamentalists began after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. However, I recently received an e-mail that listed various attacks committed against the US or its personnel starting back as far as 1979. Given the list and the manner in which we have dealt with them, is this simply a case of being something we can't pretend will go away any more?

November 1979 - Iranian revolutionaries break into US embassy, a violation of US territory, and seize hostages. They are eventually released as the clock hit midnight in the Carter administration.

April 1983 - A car packed with explosives detonates outside the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon killing 63 people.

October 1983 - A truck loaded with TNT crashes into a marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 servicemen.

December 1983 - A car packed with explosives rams the gate of the US embassy in Kuwait.

September 1984 - A van filled with explosives drives into the gate of the US embassy in Beirut.

April 1985 - A bomb explodes inside a restaurant frequented by US servicemen in Madrid.

August 1985 - A car packed with explosives rams the main gate of the US Air Force Base in Rhein-Main, Germany killing 22 people.

November 1985 - The cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked and an American is singled out and executed.

April 1986 - TWA Flight 840 is bombed killing 4 people.

December 1988 - Pan Am Flight 103 is bombed over Scotland killing 270 people.

January 1993 - Two CIA agents are killed entering CIA headquarters in Langley, VA.

February 1993 - A van explodes in the parking garage of the World Trade Center killing 6 people and injuring over 1,000.

November 1995 - A car bomb explodes at a military complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia killing 7 service men and women.

June 1996 - A truck bomb explodes outside a US Air Force barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 19 people and injuring over 500 others.

August 1998 - Two bombs explode outside US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killing 224 people.

October 2000 - The USS Cole is bombed while in port in Aden, Yemen killing 17 sailors.

September 2001 - 4 planes are hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Given this history, it seems to me that despite our best efforts to pretend that the situation will go away, it will not. However, I don't totally believe that the situation can be fully resolved militarily. War is upon us and will be needed to stamp out the engaged enemy. But we must also look to social and economic change to cut off the recruiting process. Unfortunately, much of this is out of our control, but maybe we can help push other countries in the right direction before things get much worse.