This emphasises how guarding against violence, whether from misuse of handguns, unabomber isolates, or militia groups, is a also problem of domestic policing.
But in addition that the world has become home too: the amount of interchange between the US and other parts of the world is so great that a war against one country harbouring terrorists is futile and counter-productive. It is essential to have a global consensus behind power structures that are perceived as broadly just. Moderate islamists are the key constituency with whom to have dialogue in order to contain Al Qaida.
In reality it is not possible to project "evil" outside ones home however strong the psychological mechanisms are to do so. The phenomena called good and evil are domestic problems that must be handled by conflict management, within one world.
While the US looks askance at what it sees as islamic primitive religion, it should look to its own primitive religious concepts and practices.
Prayers against evil will not control the random dissemination of weapons of terror like anthrax bacilli. Especially if the perpetrators have come to hate religious hypocrisy.
Chris Burford
London