This might offend you.

I watched the terror of the last few days as it unfolded. I am still in shock, the enormity of what happened is too great for my mind to process, the amount of pain that so many people must be going through similarly astounds my ability to appreciate it fully. While this was happening, I was shaking as I tried to process all the horrific information that I was being bombarded with. One of the shocking images to come out of the aftermath was that of the Palestinians cheering in the street. Thousands of innocents dead, and people were cheering in the streets. I was stunned, and I had to understand what would bring people to behave like that. These were people. I wanted to know what was going on in their heads to make this happen.

As much as I dislike George W Bush, he was right about one thing. this was an act of war. But this was not a declaration of war, it's a continuation of a war that already exists. It wasn't the enemy's fault that the USA only now acknowledges the war it has been a part of for decades. As shocking as this may seem to the nation that believes it is at the centre of the universe, this is not an attack on freedom or democracy, it's an attack on America.

Early in the morning, Israeli tanks entered Jenin City and two surrounding villages, said Palestinian sources. The Red Crescent said three Palestinians were killed in Arabe village, one of them a 10-year-old girl. 24 hours after the attack on the USA

There is a war in the Middle-East. There are many wars there, and the USA is involved. They are a vital ally of Israel. They continue to enforce sanctions against Iraq. They put huge resources into Afghanistan - the CIA is among those responsible for the existance and power of the Taliban - three billion US dollars were spent building up Islamic groups in the 80's to fight the invading Soviet Union.

America's illusion has been that all these wars are "over there". They're not really involved, they're just providing aid to their allies. This is not how the other sides see it. This is a war, this has always been a war. When you are at war, you are at war with the enemy's allies. Thus, the USA is a war-time enemy, and has been for a long time. When you are fighting a war, it has always been a tactic to attack civilian targets, to sap the resolve of your enemy, to destroy their essential infrastructure, and in some cases, even to prevent far more deaths elsewhere. The "bloodless wars" that the US has been involved with in the last decade are the result of good propaganda, and the ability to choose exactly which conflicts to be involved with, and when.

Note: The fire-bombing of Tokyo, and other major Japanese cities claimed significantly more lives, just over a longer period of time.

So next time you see Palestinians cheering, try to put yourselves in the mind of a World War Two era US citizen, hearing of the bombing of Tokyo. Here was a fearful war-time enemy and finally they've been hit somewhere that hurts them, an attack that shuts their whole country down, that shows them finally to be vulnerable.

The USA is in a very lucky position geographically. Their enemies are on the other side of the world, over wide seas. They share no land-borders with any enemies, unless you count the mild distaste wafting over the border from Canada. The last serious military attack on their own soil was sixty years ago. Since WW2, they have been able to pick and choose their wars, knowing that if things get too bad, they can just pull back home to their fortress, and their citizens will still be safe. This is part of the source of US power, and the foundation of its foreign policy: "You can never lose more than what you put in" is the dream investment strategy. Other countries at war know that they are putting their citizens, innocent civilians, in the firing line. The USA only really learned today that it has been doing the same thing.

What will come of it, I don't know.