Kim C — You're not the only one who doesn't get it. I don't think most sane people would, but I basically agree with Kendall's assessment of the whole thing. We're not really dealing with somebody who is playing with a full deck. I think a pretty good analogy would be that bin Laden is sorta like Jerry Falwell with a big stash of rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. These are not people who can be reasoned with. They have the revealed word of god and that is that evil must be stamped out. But they're the ones with the inside track on god's definition of evil.

Probably one of the biggest differences is that Falwell is still spewing his vitriol in the hopes of getting more money for himself; bin Laden already has all the money he needs (with some states chipping in pretty handsomely to his operations) and he really believes he has identified the infidels.

david