The goal of the enemy:

He said democracy was crumbling and laid out a two-stage plan to replace it with a Muslim nation.

The first he said meant "bleed them from their sides, their heads, their economy, everything until they surrender."

The preacher went on: "Like you imagine you have only one small knife and you have a big animal in the front of you, the size of the knife you can't slaughter him with this.

"You have to stab him here and there until he bleeds to death, until he die, then you cut his meat the way you like it or leave it for the maggots."

After that he claimed: "The people who called you terrorist before, they will call you khalifas (Muslim rulers) and the scholars who used to call you khawarij (rebels against Islam) yesterday, they will write poems about you."

The second stage involved taking control of the whole world, he added.

"Don't be a shield for the kufr because we will get you," he added. "Even if you are not a target and you are in the target area. If you fear them, you should fear Allah more. It's a bloody way."

Hamza told his followers they would eventually see a Muslim ruler in the White House and added: "The whole earth, it will be for Muslims, this is a promise from Allah.

No, they're nothing like Hitler.

Hitler only had ambitions to rule Eurasia.

I support WONJI (War on Nut-Job Islamicists) 100%

I am less certain "the enemy" is anywhere near as monolithic as is sometimes asserted here.

Nice straw man, Bill. Did you stuff it yourself?

Ah, ain't nothing but a thing. They're getting their butts kicked and they're still trying to whip up a fervor. It's empty air. Sure, some will listen, but we'll get them too.

For some, the enemy is never monolithic enough. That's why they're obsessed with "Where's Osama?" -- to them, Osama bin Laden is the only enemy we ever had in this terror war, and all the other terrorists are mere distractions.

McGeehee: For some, the enemy is never monolithic enough. That's why they're obsessed with "Where's Osama?" -- to them, Osama bin Laden is the only enemy we ever had in this terror war, and all the other terrorists are mere distractions.

It may be as simple as overly emphasizing Sun Tzu in cutting off the head of the snake. In a society where results, immediate at that, are the only measuring stick left...only by capturing or proving the death of the head guy can you satiate the public.

Mac, good point, except focusing on Osama isn't going for the head, it's going for the rattle.

Right now we're pulling fangs. Let the rattle chatter (though it has been remarkably silent for quite some time now).

And the other difference between Hitler and these nut jobs is access to superior technology. If they had that sort of relative advantage now, we'd be in trouble.

That's not to say we're winning: If we can use propaganda so well to manage US public opinion (*cough* Katrina *cough*), why are we losing the war of ideas abroad? Can we not manage perceptions abroad well enough to turn our enemies into our friends?