Now what they put on one of the main channels in England tonight (ITV), the eve of September 11th, was a bit strange.

The original Star Wars. And as I was watching it, the thought occurred to me that that must have been how the Al Qaida suicide hi-jackers must have seen what they were doing. A suicide mission by a dedicated elite of rebels fighting an underground war against a corrupt and overwhelmingly powerful Empire. Destroying the Death Star with a surprise attack from which noone expects to come out alive, which can only hope to succeed because the attacking force is so tiny compared with what they are up against.

I wonder if they watched it to hype themselves up for it?

And don't anybody think I'm saying anything at all along the lines of "Weren't they heroic ?", because I'm not. But I think it's important to be able to see how it could have been possible for them to persuade themselves that they were. And that is a terrible warning to us not to fall into the same trap.