Narrow the definition????

That's a good article all right. Maybe not politically correct, but sometimes honest and open speech is better than hiding what needs to be said. And he's right - moderate Muslims need to stand up and voice their opposition to the radicals. They need to kick them out of their communities the way the residents of Fallujah did with al Sadr and his followers. Otherwise the hatred can only grow and feed on itself.

And in much the same way, the world's nations need to stand up and oppose terrorism. They need to isolate countries that support terrorists until the administrations of those countries start taking action. No country can afford to be like Spain, running away from the fight and letting others do the hard work.

But what do we call terrorists who are not Islamofascists? Those like the Shining Path, Irish Republican Army, Aum Shinrikyo, or the Tamil Tigers? Aren't we at war with them too?

While it is not P.C. to bring it up, the fact is that it is not citizens of Kenya or Iceland who are strapping bombs onto their bodies and walking into shopping malls. It is not the British or the Japanese who toss explosives into busses loaded with school children. And it wasn't Italians or Brazilians or Australians who flew passenger liners into the twin towers and the Pentagon on 9/11.

It would seem to me that racial profiling of Middle Eastern looking people is not only prudent but essential in the war on terrorism until such time as the vast majority of decent people from that culture or with that heritage do decide it is better to be ostracized by terrorists than to continue to protect them.

Tarantulas and Foxfyre

Yes--as I was responding to an article that Kuvasz had posted I realized that the term " War on Terrorism" had become synonomous with slogans such as the war on drugs or the war on crime which may be unwinable.
Terrorism to me is real and so incredibly evil that it is difficult for me to understand how some people can pooh pooh it as though a passing fad or how they can toss in the towel and say we can not defeat it.
To me terrorism has a face and that is the face of a ME male, with a beard and hate in his eyes. He is a fanatic who is determined to kill all unbelievers and has dedicated his life to it. The only question for him is how to kill the most at one time and it matters not if they are all women and children There is no evidence that any of the terrorist attacks were committed by anyone other than Muslim men and women anywhere in the world so is it not logical for us to concentrate on the activities of young Muslim men and women as we attempt to prevent the next terrorist attack. It is time to stop being stupid and politically correct. Oh sure this statement will be attacked as being anti-Islam and bigoted, well so be it. It is time every left wing appeaser and apologist was forced to face the threat posed by RADICAL ISLAM. I say left wing because most of the people sounding the alarm are right wing and it is the left wingers who either pooh pooh or blindly stick their heads in the sand of denial.

Thank God Congress had enough bipartisan sense to rush throught the Patriot Act which untied the hands of our Intelligence and Law Enforcement institutions so that they can use the tools at their disposal.

There are literally thousands of highly intelligent people from Academia, from the military, from Gov't, from business, and even from the Media who are sounding the alarm about the dangers of Radical Islam. Apparently most people all around the world are so blinded by partisan politics and hatred for George Bush they are unwilling to acknowledge the threat and instead take refuge in some sort of collective euphemistic denial of evil in their midst.

It makes me want to shake everyone and shout in their face----wake up and open your eyes to the threat.

I've thought about that a lot and I still haven't decided whether racial profiling is justified. I don't believe in stopping drivers because of their skin color. But if we know a certain nationality of people is out to kill us, wouldn't it be a good idea to give them a little more attention?

Many people are all for rooting out Muslim terrorists, but are balking at so much of what Bush, Inc., is pushing, because it makes matters worse by giving Muslims new cause to join the war on America. There was never a defendable reason to enter Iraq this way. The heavyhanded tactics of the so-called coalition has poisoned the waters against us. The overbearing presence of our forces has been a magnet to pull in fighters from other lands. There will probably never be peace in Iraq until long after we have moved out. Right wingers confuse being a discerning left winger with being pro terrorist, or appeasing. No, we just want to go after the correct targets, not Muslims in general.

Edgar

Wahhabism, which is today's predominant strain of Radical Islam and is the one financed by Saudi Arabia around the world, started their hideous tactics of converting slacking Muslims to Wahhabism (at the point of the sword) around 1750. Not even you can blame George Bush for that. Bin Laden declared War on the US in 1996, that was while Clinton was president. Can you blame that on Bush?

What we are trying to tell you Edgar is that Radical Muslims want to kill anyone who is an unbeliever and want to take the world back to the 7th century. Now you and I both know that is a tall order and will never succeed but would you like to convince them of that? Do you really think that if Bush immediately resigned as President and if we abandoned Iraq tomorrow that would deter them in their final goal? Do you think they will suddenly say that they have no further desire to continue their efforts?

You are a caring discerning citizen from your posts and I think you will give me an honest answer----how about it?

Edgar I wish it was that easy. When we have the ability to pick the terrorist or half dozen terrorists out of the 30 or 40 Middle-Eastern looking guys getting ready to board the plane, it will be a lot easier I think.

And of course right-wingers wonder why the lefties always insist the Iraq war is somehow "illegal." We know that the use of force in Iraq was completely justified by Public Law 107-243, and it was a logical progression of the War on Terror after major combat operations ended in Afghanistan. If more terrorists enter Iraq to attack the Coalition forces, so what? They will be destroyed. It's that simple. As for calling the war "heavyhanded," well of course it is. It's war.