Amos,

There you go again, being reasonable and confusing things with facts and rationality.

And I agree (for what that's worth).

I think we need to take action against bin Laden as there seems to be little else available. The Fatwah was fairly definitive and can't be looked out like some rabid editorial in a minor newspaper somewhere. It was a religious decree and whether bin Laden actually believes it, his followers view it in the sam elight as a devout Catholic vies a Papal Bull.

I think (or mayne its "hope") the intent is to capture him and have a public trial and lay out all the proof then. (Always assuming the yet unreleased, still classified proof is real)

And then we all have to step up to the plate and decide if we can and will live by and work for the global principles you articulate. That seems the real battle and the hardest for this country to face.

Peg,

As a liberal with both heart and soul who finds himself getting more liberal as I approach (with ill grace) 53, some of your remarks are troubling.

Engaging in jingoism, name calling and stereotyping would seem to be wrong whether done as a conservative war monger or a liberal with heart and soul.

I think that what Amos characterizes as sovereignty of the individual in choosing to believe as he deems fit. and I would call a respect for individual moral autonomy should be one the core values of a liberal, though perhaps our definitions differ.

Regards

John