An associate wrote me and I thought part of what he had to say was well worth sharing.

Izzy said he had an open letter to all terrorists,

"Dear terrorists of the world:

I would sincerely like to help your causes. I believe in the equality of man and would like to see you and your people enjoying a peaceful life free of oppression. I am therefore giving you the secret to success. I would like to teach you how to quickly attain your goals with a minimum of effort and bloodshed. Furthermore, if you take my advice, not only will you cause less misery for yourselves and others, you will be universally admired for your heroism and morality.

True, your current actions are having stupendous impact on the the planet. By heroically taking your own lives while blowing up civilians, you have been causing trillions of dollars of economic damage and depriving humanity of a sense of security. I can imagine you feel giddy with power, seeing how you can actually terrify and change the entire world.

However, you may have noticed that you are not succeeding in your goals. Hundreds of "martyrs" have gotten you no closer to realizing your dreams. The very people whose rights you are fighting for are the ones who are paying the highest price for you actions. The mighty capitalistic countries of the world cannot calmly sit back while their existence is threatened. They fight back hard and are willing to pay any price in the attempt to preserve the lives of their citizens. Can you expect them to reward you when you so eagerly blow up their women and children? They see you as monsters. They are terrified of you.

Even those who may sympathize with you and admire your courage hate living in fear of you. When you kill innocent civilians, their sympathy goes down the drain. You even bomb your own people. Is it any surprise that people wonder whether you are truly freedom fighters or merely psychopaths reveling in an orgy of death.

Unfortunately, all of us, both the ones you hate and the ones you love, may be destroyed for your cause.

To save us all, I am providing you with the simple formula for success:

1. Choose a public plaza and rope off a large area. Invite the media to attend an important event at a specified date and time.

2. Have one suicide bomber stand in the middle of the plaza and make sure there is a safe distance between himself and the onlookers.

3. Inform the world of your demands.

4. Have the suicide bomber blow himself up while the cameras are rolling.

5. Repeat this at regular intervals, perhaps once a week, until your demands are met.

No one in the world will be able to question the purity of your motives. Your suicide bombers will earn the unqualified admiration of all the world. Even the citizens of the nations that oppress you will not tolerate the continued oppression and will lobby their own governments to grant you your requests. With every subsequent bombing, the humiliation of your oppressors will grow. It will only be a matter of time before they give you what you want.

With this plan, you will have demonstrated to your oppressors that you are not their enemies and that they have no reason to fear you. There will be no reprisals because there is no enemy to fight. Furthermore, they will be comfortable making peace with you because you have proven that you are a supremely moral, peace-loving people who do not endanger anyone. You will find that in a short period, you will have accomplished your goals not by sacrificing hundreds of suicide bombers but a mere handful."

I thank Izzy Kalman for his kind thoughts as well as the benefit to humanity should his suggestions be taken to heart.

Publius