[lookout123]

Jaguar - thanks for posting, i'm glad to hear you are safe. DanaC doesn't check in much anymore, but i hope she does sometime soon.

Hobbs- it is an extremely rare event when i agree with VSP, but this is one of those times. these attacks weren't carried out by "muslims", "islam", "allah", etc. Islamic Extremists (most likely al quaeda) who distort the islamic faith through their twisted view of how the world should be chose to kill people. they have little in common with the millions of everyday muslims who woke up and were disgusted by the news just as you were today.

I am a Christian. the guy who was killing abortion doctors called himself a christian. i prefer not to be lumped in with his homicidal stupidity.
One of my friends is mormon. he prefers not to be lumped in with the polygamist, incestuous fools in colorodo city, AZ.
Wolf is a pagan. she prefers not to... sorry my ignorance of her faith prevents me from carrying this to the end.

the point is that for evey religion or philosophy there are going to be people that will twist and distort it to fit their political or social view of the world. we can't fall into the trap of hating "muslims" because some shitbags from a virulent strain of that faith feel it necessary to go around killing innocent civilians. that would be just as ridiculous as a non-american hating all americans because we are wealthy capitalists raping the world for our entertainment. stereotypes are bad, mmkay?

that being said, my views from the past haven't changed. we should hunt down those involved in this and fuck them up. the problem is that they expect to be hunted down and killed, it is part of their plan to create a global revolution against those they oppose. in the end a decision will have to be made - are attacks like these crimes? or are they acts of war?

if they are crimes then we can only respond by searching for those that were involved, charge, convict, and punish them within the justice system. rule of law and all that jazz, you know?

if these are acts of war, then game on. you hunt them down, you kill them. people who choose to associate with them? kill them too. someone gives them safe harbor? kill them. at some point in time they will all be dead and no one will like the odds of rising up in their place. of course, there are problems inherent in that solution, too.