Things are not different now than before 9-11 with the exception that half the country is scared outta their pants about terrorism. That is mostly due to the course of action we followed after the attacks.
Doing something proactive could include a broad range of actions other than attacking another country. Our policy has always been let the other guy swing first, and rightly so. When you take the first swing you are nothing but a bully, people with intelligence and personal integrity solve their problems through dialogue, it's why we have developed an ellaborate judicial system. IF we are going to lead the world to democracy we must do so by taking the moral high ground (not forcing anyone to accept our point of view, way of government, or religious practices). Backward, illiterate, third world countries run by morally bankrupt dictators use force and strike first, it is beneath our character and decency as a nation to sink to their level of depravity.
However, when they do swing, our reaction should be swift, decisive, and final. Nuke the motherf***ers (whoever they are) off the face of the planet and dictate the terms of surrender. We could use a 51st state.
Even my grandmother who was raised in the backwoods of the Florida panhandle and only had a fifth grade education understood this principle. "Jon," she would say, "don't go pickin a fight. But if one of them bullies hits you, grab a tire iron and kill the son of a unpleasant woman. That'll teach him."
