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If you are an American in a foreign country and you do not consider yourself a target for harm, I do not think you are being reasonable.

To not travel where terrorists target, is to give in to the terrorists and to embolden the terrorists to repeat their success on other targets. In that sense it is perfectly reasonable to not give in to terrorists for the greater good of everybody. however, you -- in your self interest -- think it reasonable to cower in the corner.

If you go in harms way and harm comes to you, then you must be responsible for your actions and the ugly result. The world is a generally desperate and dangerous place.

So then these seven people who have been murdered are responsible for the ugly result -- their murder.

You wrote:

"however, you -- in your self interest -- think it reasonable to cower in the corner."

So I suppose you think you are going to goad me by calling me a coward. Nice try. If you are so brave, why don't you go wear a red white and blue t shirt and walk around Bogota or Manilla or Johannesburg or Beirut or Damascus for a few hours? What good will it do anyone when you are snatched off the street and offered for ransom or killed as an example? Will you affect anything except your own life?

You also wrote:

"So then these seven people who have been murdered are responsible for the ugly result -- their murder."

That is your conclusion. But one inescapable fact is very clear. If they had not been there, they would not have been killed.

The planet is not yours for the taking. You are not free to go anywhere any time and neither you nor anyone else ever has been. It just seems naieve to me to think that the world is a free and wonderful place without hazard of any kind. This is a particularly dangerous time to be in the Middle East. Since you only get one life, why risk it?

There have been a number of times when I was unable to take off in a plane because of an approaching spring storm. The ominous approach of the dark clouds and fast moving and very dangerous weather could be easily seen from my cockpit. So I remained in place and the storm passed, maybe it took a half hour, maybe an hour. Then the sky cleared and I took off. The difference between going right away and waiting a short while could easily have been losing my life versus a relatively easy ride.

If you know danger is imminent, are there not more prudent ways to deal with it than immersing yourself in it???