What it seems to be coming down to is a war pitting fundamentalist Muslims all over the world against the United States and Britain. If you strip all the side shows away, you are left with the fact that America will sooner or later have to defeat the Muslims who hate us, or be subjected to continuous terror and violence.

If you think I am overstating things, consider this: Our so-called friends the Saudis are paying the families of suicide bombers thousands of dollars for their "sacrifice," according to an April 10 Saudi Press Agency report. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia apparently feels that suicide bombers who target women and children on buses and in restaurants deserve a reward. So the money is mailed out.

The Saudi government, of course, is an accessory to murder and an enabler of terrorism. We expect this kind of thing from Saddam Hussein – but the Saudi's? That's what America is up against.

And how is the Bush administration handling the Saudi bounty? By saying nothing, that's how. By keeping silent because we need Saudi oil. Silence is our policy toward Saudi Arabia. We are quietly moving our military out of that country to Qatar because the Saudi's won't support our removal of Saddam.

We say nothing while the Saudi government supports schools that teach hatred toward America and Israel. Our government is quiet because it does not want to make a bad decision worse.

But that strategy is doomed to failure, and here's why. There are 200 million Arab-Muslims in the world and not one Arab country that practices democracy. Arabs are oppressed and poor, and their leaders blame that condition on Israel and the United States. That is fallacious, of course, but when you can't read or think outside of the Koran, it is easy to swallow hateful propaganda.

Most Arabs live lives of poverty and hopelessness. Consider these per-capita yearly incomes: the USA, $33,000; Israel, $17,500; Saudi Arabia, $9,600; Iran, $6,000; Egypt, $3,500; Iraq, $2,000; and Pakistan, $1,900. Get the picture? Most Arabs have no money and no freedom. No wonder they are angry. All Americans should realize that these people are dangerous.

The oldest trick in the political book is to distract a miserable population with war. And if it's a holy war, hey, that's even better.

Iran can't employ its citizens, but it can find the money to send ship loads of weapons to the Palestinians. In Iraq malnutrition is through the roof, yet Saddam Hussein sends tens of thousands of dollars to the families of suicide bombers, and pays big money to foreign scientists to develop deadly weapons for him.

I wish there were a solution to this madness but there does not seem to be one. Many Muslim countries are simply out of control with terrorists having more power than the government. Do you think Yasser Arafat can control Hamas? I mean the guy can't even go to the men's room without a hall pass from an Israeli soldier. And the dictator of Pakistan, Musharraf, can't control his secret police or his borders. Come to think of it, neither can America.

Anyway, while there are a few countries like Morrocco and Jordan that are friendly to the U.S., most of the Arab world wants to hurt us. Americans are going to have to deal with that threat because it is simply irresponsible not to do so.

President Bush must make it clear to the Arab world that we expect it to fight terrorism not send checks to the families of suicide bombers. And the countries who ignore Mr. Bush's warnings should be confronted.

I don't know about you, but I couldn't care less about the Muslim world. I wish it well and admire certain things about the culture. But right now that world is my enemy, by and large. Muslim fanatics are a threat to my family and way of life. Their problems lie right before their eyes in the form of corrupt leadership and hateful clerics. I had nothing to do with that problem.

Yes, America does business with bad governments. But if change doesn't come from within, only outside engagement can lessen the yoke of totalitarianism. We saw that with the Soviet Union. Detente destroyed it.

So pray for peace, but expect more conflict. President Bush is right to go after killers like Saddam and the evil rulers of Iran. These people are just waiting to attack us and there is no reasoning with them.