Ever see the movie “Red Dawn”? What lengths would YOU go to if your homeland, your way of life, was attacked?

I don't understand how the Al Qaeda currently attacking and bombing places in Iraq could be "defending their homeland." Davin has already proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that until now there never were Al Qaeda anywhere in Iraq, ever. And he should know, right? Seriously, a HUGE number of those attackers captured are "imports" from other nations. In case you hadn't noticed, the vast majority of the Iraqi people don't want the Baathists and Al Qaeda to win. Your analogy doesn't hold up.

I also like the way you refer to the way Al Qaeda and the Baathists do things as "a way of life." Why not just call mass murder, torture, oppression of women, and destruction a "lifestyle" and be done with it?

Truer words were never spoken that when Yoda said “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate… and hate leads to the dark side.”

Of course that was before Yoda went postal and kicked the sorry ass of an evil Jedi. That true Jedi fight "without hate" is probably small consolation to those bisected by their light sabers.

The Iceland comment is just dumb. You know as well as I do why nations that do nothing and accomplish nothing are not attacked by those who hate progress.

Al Qaeda and the rest perceive democracy, tolerance, and progress as a threat. It's something threatening that you attack when it appears weak. You don't attack something that never was a threat in the first place, or for that matter, something you never gave much thought at all.

My point is that violence begets violence. Sometimes a violent response is called for, but not as a means of solving long term problems.

Violence has settled a LOT of long-term issues in history. Some for the better, some for the worse. Want a list?