From the outset of our response to the now month-old terrorist attacks on our nation, we have been told by our government that this is a war against terrorism, not against Islam.

That is, of course, a correct characterization of our actions.

We, as a government, a country or a people are not targeting Islamics. We are targeting terrorists.

Thousands of Americans were mercilessly murdered on Sept. 11. We had to respond.

The religious affiliation of the murderers is truly irrelevant. This most definitely is not a war between Christianity and Islam.

Any rational person understands that, which brings me to what worries me about this whole war on terrorism.

We aren't dealing with rational people. Osama bin Laden and his devotees are not rational people.

I truly believe bin Laden wants this to be a war between Islam and Christianity. A holy war or Jihad, as he calls it. That is what he hopes for. That is what he prays for.

This is worrisome because bin Laden is charismatic. Portions of his rhetoric play well throughout the Arab world.

While only a small minority of Islamics support his brand of terror, I believe significantly larger numbers at least partially sympathize with his views regarding Palestine and Israel.

My deepest concern is that as our military exercise continues in Afghanistan, bin Laden will successfully position himself as a victim of the Great Satan (USA).

If he can divert attention from the fact that he is a bloodthirsty terrorist who must be brought to justice and can paint himself as the savior of Palestine, our support among Arab countries could erode. Even at this stage there are plenty of angry - if not violent - protests of U.S. intervention in Afghanistan throughout the Arab world.

Certainly, not all the Islamics taking part in these protests support bin Laden lock, stock and barrel. But they do sympathize, at least to a degree, with some of his views.

If they didn't, they wouldn't take to the streets.

If enough of them take to the streets, it threatens to destabilize countries that so far are supporting our actions.

A poll of West Bank Palestinians, for example, found that 25 percent of them agreed that the Sept. 11 attacks were "consistent with Islamic law."

Approximately 15 to 20 million Pakistanis support bin Laden.

And bin Laden continues to foist his notion of "holy war" upon the masses. The longer it goes on, the more support he will have.

Depending upon his level of support, we could very well find ourselves up against more than a network of a few thousand terrorists and the Taliban of Afghanistan.

I believe this is bin Laden's strategy. I think he thought this out long before the jetliners took to the air on Sept. 11.

It is a huge gamble on his part, but he really has nothing to lose, now does he?

I don't think we should underestimate his ability to convince significant numbers of Islamics that they should take up arms with him against the Great Satan.

Bin Laden may be psychotic. He may be a fringy lunatic. But if we say he has no support, if we say no one will fight for him, if we underestimate his ability to motivate Islamics, we do so at our peril.

My hope is that we can quickly locate bin Laden and "bring him to justice."

That way, his impact in the Arab world will be minimized. The longer he is free, the more he will spread his message of hatred and war and the more supporters he will have.

The sooner we neutralize him and his terrorist network, the better.

Bin Laden hates the U.S. and all it stands for. He revels in the deaths of Americans because we are "infidels."

And right now, bin Laden is probably feeling pretty good about himself.

He says things like, 'There is America, full of fear from its north to its south, from its west to its east. Thank God for that.'

While his rants sound neurotically vitriolic, think about what he has done to our country.

He has scared us. He has diminished our peace of mind.

We are running around buying up gas masks and worrying about anthrax attacks.

We're afraid to fly and travel.

Our government tells us to get back to normal while the FBI tells our cops to be on high alert.

But you know, there is another way to look at this. And this is the way I am going to look at it.

You see, he can only scare us if we let him.

I believe that our government will keep us safe from terrorists and I believe we will dismantle bin Laden's terrorist network over time.

Therefore I will act normally. I won't postpone any trips. I won't start squirreling away resources. I won't buy a gas mask or a pile of ammunition.

I will be a bit more cognizant of my surroundings, especially when I visit a large city. I will look out for the safety of my family.

But in essence, I won't let bin Laden get in my head.

And here is yet another way of looking at this, offered by one of my co-workers:

"He's not bothering me. He's sitting in a cave eating camel dung. I'm sitting in front of my big-screen TV watching football and eating pizza."

Frankly, I think that may be the best view of all. [[In-content Ad]]