Last week the F.B.I. warned law enforcement offices around America to be on the lookout for suicide bombers. They urged police to be on the lookout for individuals wearing bulky over garments in the heat of summer, especially those with wires hanging out. Is it really only a matter of time before our local papers are dominated by stories of buses being blown apart and people killed by "homicide bombers" while on a dinner date?

In today's New York Times, Thomas Friedman coins a useful phrase to describe the men and women capable of such horrific acts: "P.M.D.'s" or "people of mass destruction." Regarding the situation in Iraq, he notes:

"My rough estimate is that there have been 50 to 75 suicide bomb attacks in Iraq in the last year. So the first question I have is this: Where are all these suicide bombers coming from? How do you just get these people off the shelf?"

Friedman distinguishes the P.M.D's in Iraq from those deployed by Hamas:

"At least Hamas has a stated political goal of ridding Palestine of all Jews and setting up an Islamic state there. It even offers social services. The people running the suicide operations in Iraq, whether they are working independently or are just one organization, don't even claim credit, let alone make any demands. They just want to ensure that America fails to produce anything decent in Iraq and they are ready to sacrifice all Iraqis for that end."

Of course, this is a NYT article, so Friedman makes sure to get in some digs on the Bush administration. He incorrectly states that no WMDs have been found in Iraq. Um, Mr. Friedman, do you even read your own paper? Then he goes on to claim this is all because we never had enough troops in Iraq, didn't train the Iraqi police in time, yada, yada.

However much one may or may not agree with where Mr. Friedman lays the blame, you can't find fault with his conclusion:

"We must shut this play down before it comes to a theater near us."

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