Ranting to /dev/null

Revenge and victory are not synonymous.

Your point being?

My point is, citing Churchill in the context of the police action on terrorism is a giant red herring.

Churchill was calling for England to defeat a single advancing army that had a single purpose and objective.

You're calling* for the wholesale slaughter of an entire subcontinent to defeat an enemy that consists of numerous groups with numerous objectives.

It's not the same thing.

*Yes, I know you were using hyperbole, and you don't actually MEAN that we should bomb the Middle East into a parking lot, but that is what you said. And using emotionally charged language to encourage hate against the whole of a religion/ethnic group for the actions of a part is uninformed and irresponsible at best, and racist and criminally negligent at worst.

I reject your assertion that this is a police action. That's a red herring.

I have never called for killing innocent people. When I suggested one hundred for one retribution, I didn't have in mind rounding up townspeople and never indicated that I did. Hunting down terrorists in their holes and publicizing a head count sounds like a good idea to me.

And what bothers me most about this is that you and people who share your perspectives aren't taking this seriously. Almost three thousand civilians have been murdered in New York. Before the week is out, at least a hundred people will have died in London. Hundreds and hundreds of people have been killed in car bombs across the Middle East. You're trying to tell me that the county sheriff needs to round up the bad guys and we'll all be okay? Wake up.

Terrorists have no rights before the law. They are outlaws. They have stepped outside the bounds of civilization, and as such, none of the protections of civilization need to them. What Achilles did to Hector is too good for them. I have no sympathy for any of them. I don't care what political or religious or ethnic point you or anyone else is trying to make. Blowing up busses and subways is beyond the pale, and deserving of all the violence we can direct at it.

Using emotionally charged language to get people to realize that there are a lot of people that want you to die is entirely acceptable in my book.

In order to be at war, you have to have a clear enemy.

Terrorists are random gangs of people who, for various religious, philosophical, and social reasons, are committing acts of violence, and as such, this is (or rather, should be) a police action.

And to say that I don't take this seriously assumes far too much on your part. I am quite awake, and I recognize that most of the world's Muslims do not believe in radical terrorism, just as most Christians do not agree with the methods of the IRA.

This is not a war against a people group, nation, religion, or other such clearly defined enemy. Those who plan and perpetrate violent crimes need to be captured with all necessary force, brought to trial, and then brought to justice.

First off, these aren't exactly "random gangs". Terror on a world-wide scale isn't particularly uniform, but any given terror movement isn't just a hodgepodge of disgruntled misanthropes. They've got a clear purpose and a clear motive.

Second, what most of the world's Muslims do or do not believe is not a fact I am prepared to speculate on, and I don't believe you're in a better position to so than I am. But the fact that the most popular name for Muslim male children has been "Osama" since 2002 doesn't bode well. But this is all besides the point: I don't really care what terrorists believe. The fact that they're Muslim doesn't really mean anything to me. I don't care why they're doing it, I don't care what they believe, I don't care where they come from, I don't care who their families are. They're terrorists. I have absolutely nothing against Muslims as such. Couldn't care less one way or the other. But terrorists, now... Kill 'em. Kill 'em all. Islamists (a very different term than Muslim), IRA, Basques, Shining Path, I don't care. Kill 'em all.

Those who plan are perpetrate acts of terrorist need to be captured with all necessary force and summarily executed. And it's pretty easy to tell whether or not they're a terrorist. If they're shooting at you with military weapons while dressed as civilians, they're terrorists. All we really have to do is shoot back. This is all the justice the deserve.

If you want a clear an definable enemy, why not go in and do a wholesale slaughter of any and every Muslim cleric that preaches jihad? Perhaps we could also completely destroy the Wahabi schools that teach children that killing infidels is a great and high calling? Radical Islam isn't quite the hidden force so many people think it is. These people own television stations, for goddness sake. I'm all for a more agressive war of terror (although I conceed that "war" is a crappy word for it) and I think I would agree with ryan if he admitted he was dealing in hyperbole.

I'm currently deciding just how hyperbolic I'm being. I'm not sure yet.