A dose of . . .

I grew up in that generation that believed that regular purging of our colon was medically and hygienically good. For this I was given an awful dose of castor oil regularly. I truly remember by utter distaste of it. I will confess - I HATED that dose of castor oil.

Now, the Islamic Jihadist has, for me, morphed into that dose of HATED CASTOR OIL This has become so because of the fear of terror they bring to us. The terror being that they are willing to kill themselves at the same time as they kill us. This in turn has left us with a sense of helplessness. How on earth are you ever going to find and stop a person who is prepared to sit down with you in the foyer of the Plaza Hotel, NYC and then detonates the bomb he has in his belt in order to take me and as many as possible in that location.

Well, one way to short circuit the fear is to remember that in Western tradition when Rome ruled Palestine, such was the distaste of the Jew for the Romans that there unfolded a group of suicidal killers called the sicarri. They were prepared to go into the throng and kill with their small dagger a Roman soldier or a Jewish collaborator.

We forget the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome in 66 - 73 CE that culminated in the suicide pact of Masada. It was an incredible act of courage and determination that can match any Jihadist martyr.

We remember the Crusader army leaving its well watered base at Sepphore and marched to battle with Saladin at the Battle of Hattin. There was a price to pay for leaving their base but with determination and zeal the Crusade arrived at Hattin to engage in the battle to determine the fate of Jerusalem. The point, we want to make is about the courage to die for one'e cause does not only belong to Jihadists. All those Christians that fought to recover the Holy had the determination, focus and courage equal to any Jihadists.

There is nothing to fear about these Jihadists. What they appear to be able to demonstrate was a quality that was already in our forebears and we carry the same, because we have inherited it from them.

The problem is that we have vast resources in energy, jet travel, cruise ships. grains of all kinds, steaks, pork chops, shoulder of lamb, malpeque oysters, Atlantic lobsters and Pacific Dungeness crabs etc, we live a very pampered life style. We have our armies, air-force and navy to do the work for us.

Perhaps one day, things will so change that it will be our turn to fly into Mecca and at one signal 100 of us will detonate ourselves. In just one such strike we will bring their entire Hajj to a full stop.

THEN THEY WILL LEARN TO FEAR US.