Alex: agreed, forming policy by reference to Clancy novels is bad -- haven't these guys heard of history books? (The old saw about "those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it" springs to mind, especially in the context of, e.g., attempts to pacify Afghanistan ...)

Z: yes, but bear in mind I was trying to avoid treading on certain bunions that the people I'm trying to reach are sensitive about. Hence the circumlocution, use of the near-meaningless placeholder term "terrorist", and so on.