U.K. TERRORISTS: AS STUPID AS BUSH AND BLAIR?

Bush, Blair, and their fans say we can never, ever leave Iraq because that would "send a message to the terrorists" about our "resolve"; what they mean is that it would tell terrorists that we actually don't care if they kill us in our beds. That's what the Iraq hawks have been saying for years, isn't it, when you get right down to it? It's preposterous, and it seems like something only Iraq hawks believe -- but I think the current round of terrorists in Britain believe it too.

They attacked just as Tony Blair left office in disgrace, as if they thought the great Iraq hawk's departure under a cloud was a sign that Britons' sense of self-preservation is weak. It's not weak -- Britons want these terrorists hunted down, and they'd support an effective anti-terrorist foreign policy. What they don't support is the wrong war fought badly and persisted in endlessly.

But, actually, I hope opposition to the Iraq War makes terrorists think we're weak, because I want terrorists to underestimate us. I want them to be as stupid as Bush and Blair and their fans -- I want them to think we won't fight hard against people who are actually trying to kill us. We will -- we absolutely have the resolve to do that. What we don't have the "resolve" to do is support stupid, futile policies that don't make us any safer. Bush can't tell the difference and neither could Blair -- and maybe the U.K. terrorists are just like them in that respect.