[Coda]

The way I look at it, it's an ugly, difficult matter to deal with.

People are hurting and need someone to blame. There's no excuse for how innocent, unrelated people are being treated as a result of all of this -- this is in fact how the terrorists get recruits; they WANT people to freak out and act prejudiced. But even so, people want there to be a way to fight back. People want there to be a plan for how to address it. But these attacks are unpredictable and spread out all over the world, so... well, it's terror, working exactly as planned.

And the response is difficult. These terrorists AREN'T new. They've been around for centuries. But it's only the instant-news always-connected global culture that's come up in the last 15 years that's allowed them to be so effective. The coverage makes their ability to cause terror that much more potent, with that much broader reach.

It makes them a lot like grade school bullies -- they want attention, and the response just makes them go further.

So what IS the right response?

It's really hard to say, because we also don't want to cover up these awful things.