No Cause, No God, No Abstract Idea

[mujahedeen], By The Way, Don't Represent Islam In Any Formal Sense. They're Not Imams Or Sheiks. They Are Self-appointed Warriors For Islam.

In Short, Israel Is The Measure Of Our Failings And Our Incompetence. We Have Waited For A Great Leader For Years, But None Came; We Have Waited For A Mighty Military Victory, But We Were Defeated Roundly; We Have Waited For Outside Powers (the United States Or, In Its Time, The Soviet Union), But None Came To Our Aid. The One Thing We Have Not Tried In All Seriousness Has Been To Rely On Ourselves: Until We Do That With A Full Commitment To Success There Is No Chance That We Can Advance Towards Self-determination And Freedom From Aggression.

Take A Young Man From Gaza Living In The Most Horrendous Conditions - Most Of It Imposed By Israel - Who Straps Dynamite Around Himself And Then Throws Himself Into A Crowd Of Israelis. I've Never Condoned Or Agreed With It, But At Least It Is Understandable As The Desperate Wish Of A Human Being Who Feels Himself Being Crowded Out Of Life And All Of His Surroundings, Who Sees His Fellow Citizens, Other Palestinians, His Parents, Sisters, And Brothers, Suffering, Being Injured, Or Being Killed. He Wants To Do Something, To Strike Back.

Ironically, Many Of People, Including Osama Bin Laden And The Mujahedeen, Were, In Fact, Nourished By The United States In The Early Eighties In Its Efforts To Drive The Soviets Out Of Afghanistan.

The Just Response To This Terrible Event Should Be To Go Immediately To The World Community, The United Nations. The Rule Of International Law Should Be Marshaled, But It's Probably Too Late Because The United States Has Never Done That; It's Always Gone It Alone.