"Terrorism is a particular tactic of political violence. Wars are conducted between states. Declaring a war on terror is like declaring war on serial murderers. War is what al-Qaeda wants. Such language elevates the terrorists to the level of warriors in a battle. The terrorists are criminals, not warriors, and should be treated accordingly. "

Facing an incident as horrendous as 9-11 it is very hard to over react. However the Bush administration managed to not only over react but to extremely over react. And by doing so they granted the terrorists a great victory. When a nation declares war on a tactic they cannot win. All it takes is one person willing to commit terrorism and the war is renewed.

War is what al-Qaeda wants. Such language elevates the terrorists to the level of warriors in a battle.

The heavy handed tactics that Bush has used has been a tremendous recruiting tool for Al Qaeda and related terrorist groups.