Is there anyone out there who still thinks we should play nice with the terrorists? Does anyone feel that taking photos of naked prisoners is on the same level as cutting off a prisoner's head? I suppose if you're Ted Kennedy, you'll find a way to spin the latest savagery by our enemies as merely another reason to blame the President. After the story broke about the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, Kennedy took to the Senate floor and, once again, remonstrated in shrill tones about what he termed: 'Bush's war in Iraq.' The fugitive from Chappaquiddick, huffed and puffed thusly: 'President Bush took us to war to end Saddam Hussein's torture chambers. Now, he's replaced them with Bush's torture chambers.'

That was before Nick Berg was beheaded by an al Qaeda leader, and the video of the barbaric act was placed on an Islamicist website. I'm waiting to see the outrage from Mr. Kennedy, now that the world has had a chance to see the difference between embarrassing prisoners and butchering them. If the Massachusetts mountebank had an ounce of integrity he'd be pounding the lectern and agreeing with the President that we should hunt down the terrorists and make them pay.

The reason it won't happen is because politics in the US has become almost as mindless as terrorism. Even though the macabre images became available to all the networks, most of the liberal commentators were still wringing their hands over the 10—day old prison abuse brouhaha. One ABC reporter spent less than a minute on the decapitation story, and then segued into the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, giving it 3 times as much coverage.

As one general after another was interrogated by all those bloviating Democrats seeking ways to discredit the Chief Executive, Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma spoke out, saying he was fed up with all the emphasis on prisoner abuse. 'These people were not there for traffic accidents,' he said. 'Some of them have American blood on their hands.'

Why does it take a Republican to make that point? Are the Democrats so rapacious in their desire to win the White House that they will fail to point out that the terrorists are the real enemy, not George W. Bush? Watching an American civilian being held down by masked executioners while his head was literally sawed off and held up like a trophy should be more than enough proof that we are dealing with the lowest form of life on the planet.

Attempting to justify their bestial behavior as revenge for the prison abuse is just another example of their demented mindset. There had been no reports of prison abuse when they executed Wall Street reporter, Daniel Pearl. Nor was there any justification for the horrible mutilation of the 4 civilian contractors in Fallujah. No, this is not about revenge for Abu Ghraib, it's about hatred for Western Civilization, period. Those murderous cretins are plotting the destruction of this great democracy because it stands in bold defiance of their homicidal philosophy of world domination by terror. After seeing what they did to Mr. Berg, a businessman from Philadelphia, every American should be filled with outrage and motivated to action. Don't just sit there and read this while shaking your head in disgust. Do something! Write your Congressman, Senator, and/or President. Make a phone call to an elected rep, or just paraphrase a line from the movie, 'Network' and open the window and yell: 'I'm sick and tired of seeing Americans butchered while the politicians use the war on terrorism to gain advantage in the Presidential sweepstakes.'  

We must view every brutal attack on an American as another 9/11. The beheading of Nick Berg should be a wakeup call to every one of us that the enemy wants to put that knife to our throats too. Mr. Berg was slaughtered like a sheep because he was one of us. He could have been your son or daughter; he could have been the neighbor across the street; or he could have been you. It's time to stop fretting about the comparatively minor sins of our soldiers and recognize the unmerciful ferocity of the enemy we face. Those soldiers are the only protection we have to keep that knife from our collective throats. Ted Kennedy won't be there to help us; he's notoriously unfamiliar with saving lives.

Bob Weir writes the syndicated column, "Weir Only "Human." The author of 7 books, he is a retired NYPD sergeant, living in Flower Mound, Texas. BobWeir777@aol.com