Saw an interesting programm where a number of journalists were arguing over the who, what, where and why of the bombing last thursday.

One lady wanted to know - what 'THEY' wanted and why they did it. An old befuddled journalist was equating these bombers with the IRA and how negotiations with the IRA over the last 30 years brought peace. However it was a London based Arab journalist (backed up by an American journo) who had the most convincing answers.

These terrorists were born from the legitimate greivances of the Arab people: the occupation of Palestine and the illegal war in Iraq. However, I feel that increasingly - these new terrorist has been delinking their struggle with the legitimate Arab grievances and want revenge against the West for everything. This means that any form of negotiation (Palestine etc) might not dissuade these killers. This chills me to the bone. Means we have no ace, no room for leverage and negotiation. It becomes a fight to the death with no quarter asked or given. It becomes a fight not for economic gain but for one's soul and identity. This is horrible.

The more we in the West bomb and kill Iraqis and stall on any viable solution, the more we alienate the population. Al-Qaeda can blend into many of the societies and penetration into them by the West is nigh on impossible. Once again, using Northern Ireland as an example: the passive support of the population means that rooting out terrorists, isolating them is very difficult without causing, what the Americans call 'collateral damage'. This makes things worse - creating more fighters and haters of the West who have nothing to do with the core Arab greivance but who want revenge cause collateral damage meant that they had lost their homes, their families and their livelhoods.

Check out Iraq - what a great recruitment campaign for Al-Qaeda and her offspring.

Most of the West (especially the Americans) think the Al-Qaeda is state sponsored and that by destroying their bases and infrastructure they will fall apart. I don't think so and until they wake up. Things are going to get worse and not better.