Note in particular the part that states that the less opposition Al-Qaeda has, the more brutal it becomes. This is the true face of humanism. Seeking a man-made definition of perfection, its members can never know contentment and must always engage in eradicating the slightest imagined deviation from the “higher truth du jour”.

The quest for utopianism has slaughtered more innocents than the search for gold ever did or that the search for oil ever could.

Christendom has never been immune from this temptation. However, Islam is infinitely more susceptible. Anybody with the title of “Sheik” (bin Laden has it) can issue fatwas which are rather akin to a Pope speaking ex cathedra. And at any given moment there are about 864,000 Sheiks shooting off their towel-headed mouths and few of their pronouncements inspire ethical behavior. Instead, self-indulgent fantasizing is given the theological green light. This only moderates when the fantasizers start having close encounters with 18 wheelers in the intersection.

Things will change for the better when a cultural transformation takes place in the afflicted areas. Close contact with Americans, especially American soldiers, has always done that. Let us hope that continues. Make that hope and pray, would you?