Why not

[rob love]

I believe this is part of military history. I also don't believe this to be a simple story either. The two perpetrators were trying to bring light to the tens of thousands of civilian deaths that have occurred in the middle east during the past decade of war. What they did was incomprehensible to us, but they were willing to give their lives to try to bring awareness to the subject.

The Taliban/Al-Queda fighters are motivated enough to their cause that they will willingly die for it.....in most cases it is an unpaid job. They will be very hard to defeat, particularly because they are motivated, they do not wear uniforms, and can blend in with the civilian populations of both their area and, these days, around the world.

The death to the British soldier was brutal, and in our society, unacceptable to bring the war out of the sandbox and onto our streets. But in their view, the same thing has been happening to their people. I suspect we will continue to see this kind of behavior.

In the 20 minutes it took police to respond, the two could have continued to kill and injure the civilians around them. Beside the edged weapons they had, they also had a handgun (was it real or a dewat?) and their vehicle. But they had already made their main statement, and used the next 15 minutes to explain it.

Rest in peace to the soldier involved, the attack was certainly way outside our rules of war. But it does not appear our rules are going to be their rules.

My apologies if my discussion offends those who see this whole event in other light, as well you may. But if you do not understand the thinking of the other side, then peace is unlikely to come any time soon. And between the ease of transportation, and the sharing of information in our current world, it is no longer possible to "keep it over there".

Hanno. If this is too political, then please feel free do delete it.

[cliff]

Rob reading your story does not annoy me or offend me. You are quite correct in what you have written and in fact I agree with you. I wrote in the heat of the moment when disgust at the brutality of the poor soldiers death over ruled my normal thoughts on the matter.

Thank you for your insight and thought into this.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by rob love

Hanno. If this is too political, then please feel free do delete it.

Rob,

No it isn't. Actually it is a very well articulated analysis. The type of reaction which differentiaties this forum from many other places on the internet.

Thank you,
Hanno