Attack : Counterattack

Newspapers announcing the death of accused 9-11 mastermind Osama bin Laden are seen at a newsstand outside the World Trade Center site May 2, 2011 in New York City. Getty Images

That which is inevitable is fated
to occur, beyond the efforts of one
man to avert the certain destiny
he has himself with great deliberation
created the impetus for; the slowly
grinding wheel of his misfortune
will eventually and fatally occur.

There is no reason to doubt
the veracity of what the ancients
warned: "Live by the sword, die by the
sword." Those who do evil often enough
escape the toll if the result of what
they do is malevolently
discreet in its affect.

Those who visualize and promote
grandly theatrical displays of their
brutal contempt to ensure that
unspeakable terror grips the minds
of victims bring the unmitigated
effect of venomous vengeance down
upon their unwary heads.

For those fiercely cleaving to the
concept of blessed martyrdom achieved
through celebrated and hideous acts
of bloody destruction, it must hardly
concern them that the end is at hand
for they have achieved their purpose.

Yet in a conflict that pits the defenders
of one religion against another, one
who considers himself an atavar of
Saladin claiming his role to lead jihad
against the Crusaders and Jews places
martyrdom in abeyance and thereafter
in forfeiture when dispatched by infidels.