BUT...

They can kind of see where these guys were coming from, and how they might have felt forced into that kind of action, and how it was only to be expected after what America has done in foreign policy, etc. etc. etc.

Tom, it IS important to understand where your enemies are coming from.... I can 'understand' where those that bomb abortion clinics are coming from... I can also 'understand' where militant PETA and ELF nuts are coming from- it doesnt mean I have to view them as anything more than sick animals, but that understanding helps keep them in check... I THINK I can somewhat 'understand' the reasoning of Nazis, but I think it is a sick and twisted reasoning... 'understanding' does not mean condoning or accepting...

You want us to call the 9-11 hijackers evil? Fine, I agree... but if you just stop there and ignore their motivations and what they felt were legitimate reasons for their evil acts then you only handicap your ability to fight them effectively. It is only wise to learn WHY these people were so committed to do these evil acts... an attitude of 'they are evil lets kill them all' will lead to ineffective responses and attacking the wrong targets... (can we say Iraq?)

Understanding the motivations of evil does NOT mean condoning it, it just makes sense to know your enemy!

I think understanding the enemy is important so the enemy can be squashed... just saying they are evil accomplishes nothing- just stirs emotion... trying to understand the mindset allows you to defeat them.
We seem to just be ineptly playing to emotion, and NOT trying to kill the roots of evil...

You can look at evil and say, 'they honestly believed that they were doing the just and moral thing - why?' Unless you do this, then you will never be able to cut evil off at the knees- a potential suicide bomber is born every few minutes, but if we destroy the institutions and motivations that make suicide bombers then we win...

In short, Tom, 'UNDERSTANDING' is not a liberal feelgood thing, it is the best weapon...