New York, Madrid, London....

I am a frequent visitor to London and at one time or another I've been through most of the tube stations that were devasted in the bombings, especially the Aldgate-Liverpool area because of my research in the East End. During most of my trips it was the IRA that was the concern. But when I was there in 2001 and 2002, I had the other guys in mind, as well. Now, to show their utter contempt for their co-religionists, they bomb a train near the predominantly Muslim East End. Repeatedly they've shown the only god they worship is that of death. That is not what the Koran teaches no matter how they twist the scriptures.

Thomas Friedman's article "If It's a Muslim Problem, It Needs a Muslim Solution" presents a solid argument that until the average Muslim says "enough!" and shuts down the radical fringe elements, the world will view Islam with suspicion. Innocent people will be targeted as potential terrorists, rights will be trampled, all in the name of fear. All our work in Iraq and elsewhere is for naught until the madmen are cut adrift.

As Friedman says, "Only the Muslim world can root out that death cult. It takes a village. What do I mean? I mean that the greatest restraint on human behavior is never a policeman or a border guard. The greatest restraint on human behavior is what a culture and a religion deem shameful. It is what the village and its religious and political elders say is wrong or not allowed. Many people said Palestinian suicide bombing was the spontaneous reaction of frustrated Palestinian youth. But when Palestinians decided that it was in their interest to have a cease-fire with Israel, those bombings stopped cold. The village said enough was enough."

The link to the full article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/08/opinion/08friedman.html?incamp=article_popular)

With true grit the British picked up the pieces and went back to their lives. Of all people, they know how to survive horrors we Americans have never faced. Where our New York tragedy was unimaginable, the Brits survived nightly bombings by the Luftwaffe for months. As one told me, "If you woke up in the morning, it was a good day."

The killers will fail because eventually the world will say, "Enough." We need our fellow citizens, the Muslims, to take the lead.