Enemies of today vs yesterday

MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction.

This was the overriding principle that governed actions and military buildup during the Cold War era. The idea that if either side attacked the other directly, there would still be enough time to launch a full spread of thermonuclear tipped missiles in response, thus ensuring that it would be impossible for anybody to "win" the war.

The war on Terror isn't the cold war.

There are a number of fundamental differences. The only thing that hasn't changed is that our enemy hates us for who we are and the freedom we enjoy here in this great country. One big difference between the Soviet Union and the terrorist networks we face today is that fundamentally, the terrorists do not value life on any scale, and are not deterred by threat of force. While much of the rethoric is the same "you drop your gun first" the evil we face today cannot be trusted to act in their own self-interest, such is the fury of blind hatred and a wish for nothing short of total annihilation of everything we as Americans value, and will view negotiations and appeasement only as weakness and an invitation to attack more furiously than the last time.