Notwithstanding the realpolitik tone of Obama's address, his suggestion that the deployment of more U.S. troops would quicken the transfer of responsibility to the Afghani government had an air of pure fantasy.

Washington should welcome the steps towards strategic adjustment being pursued by its allies and refrain from any attempt to force them to re-embrace to the old subservient approach towards the United States.

Not unlike America's too-big-to-fail financial institutions, U.S. foreign clients tend to make their strategic calculations based not on what Washington says, but on what Washington does.

So before airport security screening start to feel like your annual medical check-up and American troops head into Yemen, here are some common sense ideas aimed at preventing anti-American terrorism.