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I'm sure that great minds are thinking about this very question right now.

I wouldn't be surprised if the name "Keyser Soze" has popped up more than once in these discussions.

A catastrophic attack against the U.S. allows us to take the gloves off. And, lest we forget, the destruction of the WTC was a catastrophic attack. We've had some public inklings of what Bush is authorizing, including indefinite detention without charge, "dirty" intelligence methods and assassination without trial. And that's just the public stuff! You can rest assured the top secret stuff is far more colorful and creative.

Al Qaeda may or may not understand just how nasty the U.S. can get when the chips are down. On the one hand, they seem to think we're the Devil incarnate, yet on the other hand they carry on like we're nothing more than a bunch of wimpy Caspar Milquetoasts who couldn't hurt a fly. This bizarre ambiguity on their part suggests they really don't know who they're fighting. And that obviously isn't going well for them.

So far, it doesn't look like we've adopted a policy of torturing the families of Al Qaeda members to death in retaliation for terrorist attacks or "disappearing" anyone who publicly or privately supports Al Qaeda, whether materially or merely in principle. But if AQ ups the ante by killing tens or hundreds of thousands more Americans, our bullets will get bigger, our aim looser and our trigger fingers twitchier.

Allah help them if that happens, because no one else in Heaven, Hell or on Earth will be able to.

I have no doubt that you're right, the gloves would definitely come off. We would be justified in "disappearing" lots of swarthy folks, and not just around friendly countries either. We'd definitely ratchet up the rules of engagement in Iraq. But you know we'd be itching for the Big Revenge, Rambo at Armageddon on steroids with a bad attitude and a Big Gun.

The thing that's so unusual about the al Qaeda/Hamas/Taliban/Jihadi thing is that there is no geographical enemy to single out, no one upstart country to stomp on, no single face to put on the boogeyman. There's just as many in Egypt and Pakistan and Saudi as there are in Iraq or Afghanistan, and quite a few probably in the US and Canada and all over South America, you name it. We can't get them all...can we?

It's like we're dealing with the Borg, one mass consciousness of millions of potential martyrs, all plugged in to the diabolical server somewhere. If we could just unplug that server...

I agree with everything you've written, but wasn't all this said the day after 9/11?

We talk tough and then allow this "Religion of Peace" to continue building Mosque's in our country. We continue to allow Islamic students in High Schools to have their special rooms for prayer 5 times a day. Etc. Etc. Etc.

We should have taken out Mecca on 9/12. The time for being compassionate to those who have threatened to kill our people is over. Talk is cheap, action is priceless. Do it now and be done with it.

Al Qaeda may or may not understand just how nasty the U.S. can get when the chips are down.

Oh, they know, they know. Terrified, the rats have gone to ground. They should pull dirt in on themselves before we end their days with a BLU-82.

There is no asylum; there is no haven or safe place. They are hunted 24/7 by America's finest. One by one they will wink out like candles in a sudden night breeze.