Nishantp: Apparently you only read the posts which agree with your point of view. I do not claim to know more than the FBI or the CIA about who did it. I answered |Ghost Ryder’s remark about my belief that some Islamic group did it. See previous post for my complete opinion.

Basically I said that the govt. needs some good evidence before taking action, but the best bet is that it is an Islamic group. They invented the idea of brainwashing gullible young people into being Kamikazes 800-1200 years ago, and have been doing it recently.

Except for the Japanese, I know of no other culture who used that fanatic approach in the last 100 years, and I do not think the Japanese are behind the atrocities.

DerFarm: I hope you do not think that I advocate war time suspension of due process and the reasonable doubt criteria for citizens of a country. Those concepts are designed to protect citizens from their own government, and should never be suspended. I remember what we did to Japanese Americans during WW2, and remember that my father and other Quakers opposed it to no avail.

What I do claim is that due process is not applicable to dealing with enemies during a war. A war is not conducted in a court room: Lessor, though not arbitrary whimsical, standards apply.

Kedaman: Some of what you have posted suggests that you do not believe that the US should attempt any violent actions against those responsible for what happened. I agree that violence is likely to stimulate more violence directed against us, but not going after the culprits seems even more likely to encourage them to continue with their fanatic methods.

I can remember Quaker pacificists during WW2 who claimed that one should distinguish between a rational person and a madman. They said that you had a chance of influencing a rational person with pacifism, but dealing with a lunatic could require killing him. Gandhi and his followers were successful in dealing with the English, but there is no way it would have worked against Hitler, Stalin, or Mao.

If you are capable of dealing violently with a fanatic, you should do so. You will never deter him by passive methods.