Richard Clarke puts is relatively simply and quite well in this op-ed - saying that "we are beating them over there to prevent them from coming over here" is nonsense. In fact, it's probably quite the opposite - the more we try to do "over there," the more harm will probably come to us "over here." As if we really needed more evidence that this mess we're in over in Iraq was not needed in the first place, and we should just get out of there...