Charles Krauthammer also tells Chris Matthews and his ilk what's what.

The Arab street has fallen silent not because the president hosted Muslim envoys for a White House dinner or because American children persuaded their Muslim pen pals of our good will toward Islam. It has fallen silent because the United States astonished the street with one of history's great shows of arms: destroying a regime 7,000 miles away, landlocked and isolated, solely with air power and a few soldiers on the ground -- and but a single combat death (thus far).

The Taliban's collapse shattered two myths: Islamic invincibility and American weakness -- myths amplified over eight years by the Clinton administration's empty gestures and demonstrable impotence in the face of Islamic terror.

His point is that we need to follow through with the present victory in Sudan, the Phillipines, etc. (though leave Iraq for later--I agree). After the events of the past couple of months, it probably won't be necessary to do what we did in Afghanistan (except for in Iraq, and possibly Syria). Most places now get the message...