"Surely you jest."

No, I don't. I am quite serious about this. Body counts don't decide who is winning in a conflict like this, any more than they do in a game of chess.

So far as I can see the policies adopted by the Bush adninistration have helped the aims of Al Qaida. The fact that a number of its supporters and fans have been jailed and killed and a few of its training facilities have been destroyed shouldn't blind people to the truth that Al Qaida is probably operationally stronger than ever, that the invasion of Iraq has made it possible to operate far more freely there than previously, and that antagonism towards the USA has grown exponentially.

Those aren't just my opinions - they are in line with what the Internnational Institute of Strategic Studies has been saying - here, for example:

'The war in Iraq has "focused the energies and resources of al Qaida and its followers while diluting those of the global counter-terrorism coalition", the International Institute for Strategic Studies argued.

Despite the killing or capture of around 2,000 al Qaida fighters, including some key figures, the group remains a powerhouse for Islamic terrorists operating in more than 60 countries, the IISS annual Strategic Survey warned.'

If you are stung by a bee the last thing you want to do is to charge out and kick over the beehive. You use your head, not your feet.