I am a liberal, left wing, labor organizer. As to the cause of the Palestinians and there right to an independent homeland, I am in support, but only if there is an acknowledgement of Israel's right to exist. I am appalled at the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli government, and sickened by my own government turning a blind eye to it. In the opening moments of this tragedy, on the Mudcat, I posted that I felt as though we must respond strategically and surgically. And I said several times that we must also enter into a time of introspection in order to understand what causes these types of actions. Smarter folks than I have posted above about this. Having said that.....

These people killed 6000 innocents. Folks that were doing nothing more than prosecuting their daily lives. Now it appears that they are attempting to unleash biological terror, again, on innocents. bin Laden, on TV, has said that he intends to kill every American that he can. That makes my children and my family a target. And finally, he has murdered innocence. I am not being emotional here, I just understand who his targets are, and the horrid lengths he will go to to achieve them. With that understanding comes commitment. In this matter I am not liberal, I am not conservative. I am the intended victim. Been that before. As before, I am not going to allow that. My opinion is that we must wipe out this organization. Its structure must not survive the conflict. Its leaders, as well as the perpetrators of the bio terror (whomever they are) must be hunted down and eliminated. Period. Any government which in any way supports these acts in a tangible way must suffer the same fate. There is such a thing as a just war. This act, and the acts of the bio terrorists, have made this one of those. I would go tomorrow if asked, and I believe we must be ruthless and relentless in this task.

Do not mistake this as vitriol. It is a declaration of understanding of the aims of the perpetrators of this act. I still feel as I did in the beginning with regard to seeking to be a more responsible citizen state of this world we live in. I want us to be respectful of other cultures, and more responsible in our use of the limited resources that the Earth Mother has provided for us. I want us to advocate on behalf of the downtrodden, and use our resources to feed the children. But anyone that seeks to hunt me and mine, is my enemy. And I don't believe in being gentle with predators such as these.

Rant ended.

Mick