The time for a massive one-shot 'retaliation' has passed --it should have been done within the hour. I had hoped when Bush went to Orfit AFB (US missile command, sometimes referred to as 'nuke city') we might see a proper response --we did not. As members of the Church we are required to forgive our "trespassers"; I have no problem with forgiving them as they are obviously misguided, but that does not change the need and responsibility to protect our families and therefore punish not only the direct participants but also their leaders and any nations who harbor them. In so much as the terrorists are outside the reasonable laws of man, extraordinary measures are warranted. I consider 'war, in and of itself, a war crime', but that does not diminish the occasional requirement to maintain the rule of law, but war should only be entertained if you are determined to strike a decisive (and hopefully permanent) victory. To the victors go the privilege to write history; to the losers go the war crime trials. Terrorists are a special case. Bin Laden is following the playbook of the old Chinese master, Sun Tzu: kill one man and you terrify 10,000. Terrorists can only be eliminated by turning the people against them with pain and suffering --eg: 18 million Iraqis all do not wish to be martyrs when the chips are down. If we had taken out Iraq and Afghanistan, we should have smiled and said: "Next?" Geostrategy Direct detailed the Israeli assessment of Bin Laden's and Hussein's dirty hands. Today's Federalist article was the strongest (and most rational) I have seen --their bottom line is part of what I demanded yesterday: Afghanistan becomes molten silicon. What do we do now? Probably slide down the slope of the talking heads as the Left criticizes Bush's lack of decisive leadership (and U.S. intelligence failure) and permits the UN to convene to condemn the terrorism, but even more strongly condemn U.S. foreign policy for creating the world problems which brought forth the terrorist response --in other words, the U.S. must pay off the radical Islamists. Jefferson made the correct statement in history vis a vis the Barbary pirates: '...not one penny in tribute' --even the Brits had been paying tribute. A task force, led by the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) and the Marine Corps, leveled Tripoli. They did not ask for their surrender: they eliminated them. Summary justice. George blew his window of opportunity --he had a chance to go down in history as a decisive leader in crisis, rather than just a president who presided over the worst single casualty ever suffered by America, here or abroad; the diminution of our military status; the abrogation of our leadership in the free world; and the potential destruction of our economic base if the financial markets collapse when the stock markets reopen on Monday. But even more pernicious, few Americans will trust the government to protect them or represent them in the world. Sorry, George, I thought you were more of a man.