Quote Originally Posted by Moonraker View Post
I have read the Quran but cannot offhand point you to relevant texts. Suffice it to say that since beheading is the Sharia penalty for certain crimes and Mohammed fought several wars killing you may be in error here.
If, as Tom says, the Bible and Quran are virtually interchangeable, then the prohibition against killing seems only to apply to other Arabs (Quran), Jews (Old Testament) or Christians (King James Bible). In virtually every culture throughout history, killing of barbarians, heretics, outsiders, just "those who are not like us" has always been looked at differently than killing within the community. This is, after all, what makes wars possible.

Similarly portraying them as crazies (as Tom of Sweden does) is also a risky tactic. For sure the suicide bombers are pawns but I don't think the planners who know precisely the optimum floor for the plane to hit its target are that stupid. It is often considered foolhardy to underestimate your adversary and I would hope those responsible for counter terrorism dont believe their own propoganda.
Crazy does not necessarily equate with stupid. It's crazy to strap a bomb to your chest and explode it, knowing you are going to die. It's crazy to fly an airplane into a building, knowing you are killing hundreds of people, including yourself. It does take some intelligence to learn to fly that plane, even marginally, well enough to crash it. And it takes a lot of intelligence to plan and coordinate all the intricate elements of such a plan.

But I don't care how smart they are, I doubt very much that any of the planners truly expected the towers to fall as they did. I don't think anyone could have predicted that. It's only in hindsight, after much analysis, that we understand just how that happened.