Step 1: admitting the problem (2)

The National Review's Jonah Goldberg:

Al-Qaeda is our [USA] Hezbollah (and, in a sense, Hezbollah was our al Qaeda before al Qaeda showed up on the scene).

That's right, but not in the way he thinks it is. American foreign policy from 1979 onwards was marked by an obsession with Shia fundamentalism while the more virulent Sunni fundamentalism was spreading from Saudi Arabia. In terms of how this obsession is again dominating US foreign policy, the pre 9-11 mentality has been restored.

[UPDATE: Here, via Dan Froomkin, is a Time magazine article noting the important of the Hezbollah/al Qaeda distinction]