Byron etc.

A short ditty from Byron caught my eye in the newspaper:  'A little she strove, and much repented, / and whispering, 'I will ne'er consent' - consented.'  Followed shortly after by several quotes from a review of 'Talking to the Enemy: Violent Extremism, Sacred Values, and What it means to be Human' by Scott Atran.  The book's author ends by saying that, 'permanent peace is about as improbable on Earth as unending day', but before he gets there, as the reviewer adroitly notes, 'In a passage that should be framed and hung above the desks of every world leader, he writes: 'Until Barrack Obama's election, US relief for the Indonesian victims of the December 2004 tsunami arguably was the only significant victory since 9/11 in the struggle to prevent enlistment of future terrorists for jihad'.  Scott Atran also makes the (hopefully obvious) point that parents of suicide bombers feel neither satisfaction nor pride in the actions of their sons (or daughters): 'I have yet to meet parents who would not have done anything in their power to stop their children from such an act'.  Indeed.  Surely only crack brained far right-wing gainsayers and anti-Semites would disagree.