Some here appear a little naive after 9/11. These fighter aircraft are fully armed for a reason. The unfortunate and ultimate result could possibly lead to a shoot down if the aircraft had been hijacked and failed to comply with the interception.
In Europe ? Allow me to
Canadian Break : if you mean the big picture at the level of a State strategy policies , indeed I am not in those , but I know enough to see where the "war or terrorism " is being used to justify the use of big expensive military toys that became totally obsolete since the Soviets are concentrating on making money . In times of ever shrinking defence budgets , but to be honest, if I was in the military shoes I would probably do the same .