I regard war AS terrorism, BB. It's terrorism on a much larger and better organized scale. In fact, war is the ULTIMATE terrorism. That makes George Bush the World's number one terrorist commander at the present.

In World War II, Hitler was the World's number one terrorist commander. I expect history will judge them in a somewhat similar fashion when the dust settles after the misnamed "War on Terrorism"...although I think Hitler was probably a bit crazier than Bush. I'm not sure, though.

Can you guys try to give up this word "equivalence" for a bit? I'm not trying to equivalence anything. I'm trying to draw parallels between various things. There's a difference. I'm not saying things are EQUAL to one another in degree, I'm saying they bear some notable similarities in certain ways. None of them are EQUAL, because they are all different and unique.

Thus, no, I am not trying to equivalence Israel and Nazi Germany...there are many differences between them...but I am pointing out that victims of historical persecution often morph into the new persecutors of someone else. It has happened over and over again in history.

Look, if you bring your kids up with a constant sense of paranoia ("lots of people out there hate us") and persecution ("we have been attacked over and over again and can expect to be attacked again by those evil people who hate us") and you keep hammering that into them as they grow up...then your kids grow up with a chip on their shoulders, and they become hypersensitive to criticism and they see enemies where enemies may not even exist.

That has happened with black kids in the USA since the 60's. It's not a pretty situation. It has turned victims of racism INTO racists themselves, in many cases! It has happened with some Native Americans too, and I know, cos I've hung out with them for years. The same bloody-minded sense of "all those damn whites are out to get me, and I know it". It doesn't help anyone. It has happened with much of the Jewish community since WWII, and it's not one bit healthy or helpful to them or anyone else. AND...it has happened to Muslims since the creation of Israel.

It's what happens with people who are incapable of forgiving or coming to terms with the past. In their constant zeal to avenge the past, they become just like the people they regarded as their worst enemies.

Vengeance is the path of a fool, bent upon self-destruction and the destruction of others, most of whom will prove to have been basically innocent bystanders.