Peter,

>I saw only praise for the NewsMax article which was posted by reference. The following appears to be the key portion:
>
>"As President Bush has noted, this is the first war of the 21st century – and it requires going after specific individuals, not groups, peoples, and cities. We need to kill Saddam Hussein individually, kill Osama bin Laden individually, kill every Taliban assisting Osama bin Laden, kill every member of every cell of Osama bin Laden, kill every member of Hezbollah, kill every Iranian government sponsor of Hezbollah, kill every member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, kill every Syrian government sponsor of Palestinian Islamic Jihad – all of them must be located, hunted down, targeted and personally put to death."
>
>Now suppose you could wave your magic death ray and accomplish this overnight, killing more persons than died in the WTC tragedy. Does any one on this conference believe that would be the end of it?
>
>For every current "Moslem Terrorist", there would be 100 newly radicalized volunteers to take their place.
>
>Now wave your magic ray again and kill these 500,000 new recruits. That would not be the end of it.
>
>If you killed every adult Muslim and Arab, men and women, that would not be the end of it. Even if you killed all of the children, it would not be the end of it because others would take up their cause in repugnance at what you had done.
>
>
>The article also said:
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>"The only way to win this war, the way to destroy the entire structure of Moslem Terrorism, is to terrify the terrorists individually."
>
>I cannot imagine anything more terrifying than flying a plane into a buidling. You are not going to scare these folks.
>
>
>I don't know what the answer to this problem is, but I do know that killing lots of people is not it.
>
>Peter Robinson

Well, look... In the some 5500 years of recorded human history only about 200 years or so have been completely war free. Man's heart is full of hate towards his fellow man as expressed by placing one's own desires before those of others. It is entirely related to greed and envy. You have something I want and I'm going to take it. It's really that simple.

There's this absolutely stupid and utterly irrational notion that man is somehow "good" in his heart. I beg to differ and need to go no further than the nearest baby in a supermarket that will throw a fit because it can't have those cookies or that toy. This is nothing more than ego's attempt to cover up greed's bare bottom, so to speak.

Now, up until now most wars, battles, engagements or whatever else you want to call them have had as a part of their component the notion that at the end of the day the combatants will, after suffering a certain level of losses will come to their senses and capitulate. Doesn't really stop the conflicy but it supresses it. Look at WWII which was really nothing more than a re-emergence of WWI. Germany had a proverbail axe to grind and they went to great lengths to rub the noses of the French (for example) in it. They had them sign their surrender in the same rail car they had earlier signed their own surrender. Don't tell me their wasn't a link... <g>

Now we are faced with an enemy that wants to die and sees this as a spiritually positive act.

I would suggest that the only way to deal with this kind of attitude is to utterly destroy it in all its forms. Now.. Before folks project their own fears on my words and presume they know what I mean let me state that I mean only going after the individual leaders persistently If it takes 200 successive assassinations then kill those 200 people. Wear them down with a greater committment.

IOW, we have to be more committed to fighting for life, expressed in the form of an open society, than they are committed to death.

I am not convinced we have the will but I suspect that if we get hit with a biological or nuclear attack on our shores by neglecting this current conflict I dare say we'll be far more willing to use nukes in return than otherwise.

IOW, if we son't stop this now it's only going to get worse.

It's ugly, distasteful, and all sorts of other nasty thoughts but I submit it's necessary.

Appeasement only makes these people think we are weak.