Suicide bombers, however, like pyromanaics, have no "context" that is of any interest to non-specialists. Only their overt behavior need concern us. It therefore does not matter what our governments do in our name that provokes the unpleasant behavior, since they will continue to do it.

Da guvvamint's policy is simple: you don't stop having picnics because of bugs; rather, you bring along a can of bug spray. And so while counter-terrorists, like pest-control professionals, are rational, terrorists, like pests, are not. You don't ask pests what might you do differently so as to persuade them not to bother you any more, do you? All that matters is how to exterminate them.

Even human pests who go through the motions of offering reasons, like: "You occupy Muslim lands!" There is no reason in world to stop occupying Muslim lands in the odd chance that doing so might end non-State terrorism in West.

All the carnage, all the upheaval, all the destruction of social fabric here and there. It's all worth it, worth it, worth it. Every billion dollars of it. Every "so-sorry" homicidal error. Every incipient police-state indignity. Every resultant starved, diseased, or mutilated baby. All worth it. We must not stop now. We must prevail. We must, we must, we must. Kill and be killed. Forever and ever, Amen.

Got that? If you don't, you must be soft on terrorism. (Has anyone yet heard that phrase in the mass media? Any bets on how soon we will?)