I may be going off on a rant here, but I'm not surprised that this event has led to calls of maximum payback. Any event that traumatizes, such as this, will send people away from the center and toward one extreme or the other. This is why you have people claiming that war is the only solution and that a man must die. But think of this: most of these organizations either have a hierarchy that would allow for immediate transition (not unlike the US gov't) or are fragmented with so many heads that their org chart would look like the Hydra. Either way, would killing -- or even arresting -- one person make any difference? No, of course not. We are trying to apply rational rules to an irrational society in a foreign land that's already sent the one-finger salute to the world and pretty much hoper Uncle Sam chokes on his pork chops. But who's kidding who here? This problem is much worse than simply an Islamic thing. Every group, religion, race, or organization has people who would do that sort of senseless killing and rationalize it away if only they thought they could get away with it. Even my own religion isn't immune, lest I forget Sinn Fein's history. The difference? OPEC. Now, before this sounds like a Modest Proposal, let me say that quite frankly there is nothing wrong with an organization of nations who oversee the output of an important resource. But when the money from such a thing falls in the wrong hands, such as those of Iran or Libya in the past or one Saudi nutjob in the present, that's where the trouble begins. So, how do we hit them in the pocketbook? In the case of price-gougers, we have homegrown oil. Tell the environmentalists to park it and let fly the crude. However, no such thing will happen this time, since we're dealing with someone who has his money and can afford to pay air crash insurance, apparently. Freezing assets was the right step, but it's a first step. The next step is personal defense. After all, if the best laid plans of the rats and the righteous gang aglay, maybe they'll get frustrated and settle for a smaller scale. No comfort to the relatives of the dead, for sure, but it's what we should do. As others have stated, just punching back invites a counterpunch. And it's not like we're gonna hit the Bearded Bulls-Eye right away -- this guy changes addresses so often, we might as well play Cruise Missile Whack-a-Mole. And yet, we can't just ignore him and hope he'll go away. So we have to make sure this never happens again. Seal off the cockpit like Israeli airliners have. Arm the pilots if necessary. Nothing that could be a weapon -- not even barbecue tongs -- should be allowed. We can never prevent evil from being in our world -- only One can do that, and He isn't showing up on our schedule. However, we can prevent anyone from being a victim. That's the kind of heroism that never gets talked about, but plays every bit as much of an important role. Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. Respond to Durham_Devil_at_...
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