Wow! Now there's a vision for you.

Ayman al-Zawahiri - Al Qaeda's number #2 man - has a plan and a grand vision (New York Times, October 7, 2005):
Step 1. Expel the American military from Iraq.
Step 2. Establish a militant Islamic caliphate across Iraq. (No room for Shiites in this plan.)
Step 3. Establish a militant Islamic caliphate across the mid-East including, but not limited to, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. (Can the rest of the world be far behind?)
Step 4. The destruction of Israel.
Then all can live in Sunni-Islamic peace and justice.Wow! Now there's a grand vision for you. The end of evil and the dawning of a new Edenic existence.
There is little doubt that, in his heart, this al-Zawahiri is a good man. He is doing God's work; his grand mission is God's mission. And, like all grand visions al-Zawahiri's is guaranteed to inspire loyalty, dedication, and even martyrdom. Onward to the new Islamic caliphate!
Grand visions do that for us. They inspire us (literally, infuse us with spirit); they take us out of our narrow selfish concerns, and fill us with noble and righteous causes.

Just consider all the grand visionaries of past and present: Take in the movies of the times and notice the capacity of leaders to elevate and inspire their followers. Hitler and his Third Reich that will last for a thousand years, Mussolini and his New Roman Empire, the Japanese war lords and their  grand vision for the Far East, Lenin and Stalin and their dreams of world communism, Milosevic and his new and improved greater Serbia, and, dare I say, G.W. Bush's dream of transforming the Middle East: "Democracy Is On The Move."

The other thing we know about grand visions is: they end up destroying lots of property, displacing lots of people, shedding an incredible amount of blood, crippling untold others, and crushing the spirits of the very people they previously inspired.

But what should give us most pause is that these grand visions tend to have a lame track record. Hitler's thousand years didn't make it to even the first decade; same for the New Roman and Japanese Empires; Greater Serbia has been miniaturized, and "world" communism appears to be flickering in the tiny island of Cuba. The lesson: despite grand beginnings, it all ends in ashes.

So here is my message for al-Zawahiri. I know you believe that your heart is in the right place, but here is how it is going to turn out. A lot of property is going to be destroyed. Many lives will be lost - your people and ours. Hopes and dreams will be shattered. None of this is likely to concern you, but what might is this: When all the bodies are buried and all the fires are doused, there will be no Sunni-Islamic caliphate. It hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. Just look at the track record.