Dear Soph:Well, it's okay with me if you want to undo Bush's declaration of war and make a declaration of crime.
Given the sheer number of victims, and the fact that a fairly large group is involved, I kinda thought it seemed war-like.
If it is a crime, though, and not a war, then we should not under any circustances send the military in to do roundups. Military people do not do arresting very well -- they are trained in different skills, and don't know how to spell Miranda.
As to how I know that those who staged, planned, financed, supported, trained and executed this operation were part of a larger network, it is an assumption extrapolated from the long history of similar acts in various nations, the similarities in some aspects of those acts and my own sense of what would be consistent with known data. It is not a fact, but an assumption, which is why I said probably.
As for your question, "Forgive them? Why not?" there are very good reasons why not. First, I can't. Second, I do not want to.
They still have the power to kill my friends.
I would be happy to forgive them once that power has been removed. Not before.
I am very sorry if this is not sufficiently Christian for your tastes, but I don't subscribe to organized religions.
A.