Thank you Cluin.

Everyone, here's my take.

The so-called enemy is being seen through distorted lenses.
Here's the real deal. The Al Quaeda is interested in an Islamic theocracy in the Middle East. That's what it's all about, not just indiscriminately killing Americans.

What the White House needs is a department on Anthropology so
that the rulers in government can know who really they are dealing with.

Otherwise this "terrorist" thing becomes another political
tactic and power play. If we are at war than we have seen
the real enemey and as Pogo says, "it us us".

That's not to say that Al Quaeda isn't a vicious organization
and fanatical as well. They perceive America as being inimical
to their goals to theocratize Islamic countries but their
fundamentalism is as irrational as it is with all fundamentalist religious groups. Their craziness plays right into the
craziness of the Evangelical Radical Right-wing in America.
I think the two groups understand each other and they are the ones who are really at war. The rest of the world is "collateral damage" (a disgusting and obscene term).

Frank