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You raise an important and valid point Sunk, and one that I have thought about previously.

The ousting of the Taliban from Afghanistan was principally an operation to remove the support/training/logistical infrastructure given to what the West perceives as the all-pervasive international terror network that was al-Qaeda. The Taliban occupation of Afghanistan proved to be a boon for Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia (mainly) but also Egypt, Syria and Yemen to 'train' in insurgency and terrorism for the following reason. Wahhabis are split into two schools of thought - those in league with the Arab governments and various dictators in the Middle East who want to use the political and economic clout of Arab oil-producing nations to Islamicize the rest of the world, and those who see the various Arab governments as tinpot dictatorships propped up by the West to prevent the establishment of the Islamist caliphate. Taliban-run Afghanistan was popular among the latter as political dissention in their home countries would no doubt incur lengthy prison sentences. After seeing the execution of dangerous militants like Syed Qutb under the Nasser regime in the 60s and the various Arab dictatorships since, those Wahhabis against the Arab dictatorships sought their own caliphate (or as close as) and when the Taliban ran Afghanistan this was to be the natural launchpad for attacks against the West and the Arab dictatorships and governments that they supported. The invasion there was principally to eliminate this arm of Islamofacism and eradicate the support network for those Wahhabis who want to bring about their caliphate. This was the main aim of Allied forces and the battle to prevent the Taliban reclaiming the country is the one we are presently fighting. This is only half the story.

Now the Wahhabis who generally have a grain of nationalism and are supportive of the Saudi regime, for example, are those who export Islamofacist ideology, money and literature to the rest of the world. Under the auspices of Muslim discussion fora and organisations, these extremists are - in league with the Saudi government - preaching to the likes of the four July 7th bombers from Beeston. This is where it becomes the duty of the Home Office and BIA to ensure that radical Islamists like 'The Hook' and Omar Bakri can never enter Britain. Unfortunately, doe-eyed officials and misguided Civil Servants cannot draw the line between freedom of speech and freedom to incite hatred and violence. For example, Omar Bakri was the leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a radical Muslim organisation with links to the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-e-Islami, and once famously called for the beheading of non-believers and the cannibalisation of infants by Islamists, was given asylum after knowing his background and as recently as 2005 was appearing on various news channels. Oh by the way, Omar Bakri preached at a mosque in the Beeston area of Leeds, where our young Brit-born suicide bombers attended. Why does the Government allow these subversive characters, with direct influence on people who went on to become suicide bombers, to live courtesy of the state?

The cynic in me thinks that sending our soldiers to fight and die in Afghanistan in the name of "UK Security" is a far easier response to the call to "do something" about terrorism than challanging decades of soft thinking here at home by the political elite.

Sunk you are absolutely right when you say this. After 7/7 the Govt moved to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir but then got cold feet about upsetting the sensitivities of sympathisers and didn't go ahead with the ban. In contrast, MB, Jamaat-e-Islami and Hizb are banned in most Arab countries, and have been banned for decades.

Afghanistan is one front in the campaign against Islamofacism and I think that our presence there is important to prevent the establishment of a state openly willing to support terrorism. (I also happen to support the ideas of liberal interventionism and believe that we should do more to correct injustices and oust tyrannies, so I support the emancipation of the Afghans and Iraqis and would call on the West to take action over Darfur, Somaliland, Saudi Arabia, DPRK and Zimbabwe). The other frontline is at home and we need to make more effort to integrate Muslims into the country, otherwise segregation provides fertile recruitment ground for radical preachers from organisations we should really be banning to brainwash another generation of British Muslim kids. Some of the onus is on the Muslim community to purge radical elements from their mosques and halls, but how can we expect them to turn in their own when the Govt sits by and does nothing? Musharraf was right in that we're doing too little to combat homegrown extremism so we should look at ourselves before telling Syria and Pakistan to fight on our behalf. If we want to nip this thing in the bud, we need to tackle Saudi Arabia - the source of Wahhabism.