Another one that hurts

Nonsense. Most of us are willing to risk our lives for something - e.g. our children. Suicide bombers are just more sincere in their commitment.We call people heroes when they die for our cause. Why call them something else when they die for their own?

But they're not losing.

They weren't willingly risking their lives; they were just indulging in risky behaviour, like drug addiction. It's not analogous to two sides in a war.

You don't get to decide what their dream is or whether it's being fulfilled. Exactly. Christian Fundamentalists ARE violent. They, and the war-on-terror terrorists in general, will stop at nothing.

I didn't say it was laudable. I said it was no different from bombing civilians.But of course it IS laudable to them and to their recruits, just like (oops) "accidentally" killing their wives and children is laudable to you. Yes, no doubt God is on your side. He was on your side during World War 2. He was on your side during World War 1. He was on your side during the genocide of Native Americans. He's always on your side because you're always right. I'm not legitimizing anybody. I'm demonizing both sides.

Correct. Drunk drivers kill people inadvertently. We still throw them in jail. No. A doctor is trying to save his patient; if he fails, he fails. A bomber pilot is trying to kill people. If he kills the "wrong" people, he's no better than a drunk driver, maybe worse. Maybe war was the only way to defeat fascism. That doesn't justify the bombing of civilians during that war. As I have said before, it's better to lose a war honourably than to win one dishonourably.

I think it's more important that non-Muslims take it on board.

Does that apply to both sides?

The US was founded by the evil warlord George Washington. Do we condemn all present-day Americans because of that?

I don't ask Charles Manson for his opinions on murder. If Germany says, "Oops. It won't happen again," they should be eyed with suspicion.

Again you fail to reply with any substance.Let's try Martin Luther then: he was a saving lunatic; should we tar all Lutherans with that brush?

I did say "If".

If I wanted to know how to murder, I might go to a convicted murderer for pointers. ("How do you make sure they're not merely dead but really most sincerely dead?")But I wouldn't go to a murderer for advice on whether murder is a good idea. Similarly, I wouldn't go to the US, the only nuclear murderer in history, for advice on whether nuclear weapons are a good idea. Their opinions on the "obvious evils" don't interest me because we clearly disagree on what's obvious.