Quote Originally Posted by Fengzi
. . . this is not a war of attrition. Even if it was we'd probably not be winning. Bush's foriegn policy will ensure Al Qaeda has a steady stream of pissed of young Muslims ready to blow themselves up in the name of Allah. The reality is that this is a war of attitudes and beliefs.
Thanks for your heartfelt post, my friend, and for the sad, sad truth you stated plainly above. This concerns me more and more with each passing day: the complete obliteration of the respect and safety we, along with our allies, used to enjoy in most parts of the world. We've only made things worse, and far too few people, especially too few of those in power, seem to be ready to realize that fact. The worst thing is that nearly all westerners are tainted now by association with us, even those like us who strenuously oppose our Middle East policies.

The pope's just like many of us, I imagine. He's understandably frightened, not only as the leader of the church but also as the head of state for his "principality," which includes some big potential real estate targets for terrorists. Even though I agree in theory with the idea of just saying "If you can dish it out, then you can take it, too" to angry Muslim extremists, I personally wouldn't probably do that right now, either, even as good as it might feel.