From Bush's press conference of yesterday:

And this is a new kind of evil. And we understand. And the American people are beginning to understand. Now, this crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while. And the American people must be patient. I'm going to be patient.

Whether the American media picked up on it or not, the word will have much more resonance in Europe and Britain, as McGrath has already demonstrated. In any case, when the whole thrust of the American message is that this is not a religious ussue (Bush visited a mosque today), it seems an incredibly dumb reference, and one that Islamic terror factions could use to engender sympathy.

But I think most of us here in the States are simply watching to see what the national leadership does. If they can rise to this enormous challenge with a carefully-planned offensive that actually works, we will forgive them some flubbed lines.