"Cruelty of Cowards"

Excerpts from Ralph Kinney Bennett's great article on "The Cruelty of Cowards": "Think about it. If three Islamic fighters had been captured by the Americans, would there be any apprehension about their fate? Of course not. Despite all the fervid Abu Ghraib and Gitmo propagandizing of assorted leftists, pseudo-peaceniks and Democrat apologists, the general presumption is they would be treated decently. But as soon as the news of the disappearance of these three American soldiers was released, the presumption was for the worst. For in the twisted world of Al-Qaida and its spawn of Islamofascists cruelty is first and second nature. And there is no cruelty quite like the cruelty of cowards. Because, in the end, cruelty is their only weapon. The cruelty that leaves bodies in the smoking ruins of buildings. The cruelty that beheads. The cruelty that slaughters innocents in the marketplace. The cruelty born of a cowardice that camouflages itself in the ignorant "bravery" of suicide bombers. ... No matter how Islamic apologists parse it and high-minded scholars and imams turn words on their heads to explain it, "jihad" always seems to end up writ in bloody revenge, murder and histrionic cruelty. We are in a war against this cruelty. It is a war some think can be "ended." But it is a war, I think, that must be won or lost. And the consequences of losing are dire for mankind."