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Baldie makes a good point - why is it that nobody ever considered treating these guys, and other al-Qaeda types, as common criminals, and the struggle against them as a simple law enforcement battle, sort of like dealing with the mob? That strikes me as the correct posture. There is an international aspect to terrorism, of course, but there are international criminal organizations too.
The "War" metaphor has lead us to retaliate in a way that is way, way disproportionate to the harm we suffered. This, in addition to other obvious abuses like rendition and torture, has squandered the good will of the world that we had right after 9/11, and I believe fueled the resistance.
The inappropriate use of force has been a boon to terrorist recuriters, by allowing them to portray themselves as plucky defenders of Islam who dare to fight back against the uncaring violent imperialist non-believers. If we simply treated them as the murderous thugs they are, and charged and tried them and presented the evidence in public trials, I think that would be a far better way to win the PR battle, which strikes me as the only way to "win" in the long run anyway.
