thin air. On what does she base it? As we all know, in Islam, the political - as with every other facet of human existence - is merely an extension of religion. So intertwined is church and state in the Muslim tradition that the word 'ecclesiatical' does not exist in the Atab vocabulary. The Prophet Muhammad had invited the Emporer of Byzantium to Islam...as he did the ruler of Persia. This is a necessary pre-requisite before attack in the Muslim ethos. Bin Ladin has issued just such an "invitation" to America. Shortly after the Prophet's death, the Islamic invasion of Byzantium and Persia commenced. It had absolutely NOTHING to do with "political aspirations." ARMSTRONG: "Until the middle of the eighth century, Jews and Christians in the Muslim empire were actively discouraged from conversion to Islam, as, according to Qur'anic teaching, they had received authentic revelations of their own." RESPONSE: What Karen so deviously fails to mention here is that the reason for this was so the new Muslim rulers could continue the extremely profitable extortion perpetrated upon the conquered peoples in the form of Jizyah. Those rulers were finally prevailed upon by the Muslim clergy and scholars to encourage the subject peoples to convert. ARMSTRONG: "The 9/11 terrorists, who in fact violated essential Islamic principles, have confirmed this deep-rooted western perception and are seen as typical Muslims instead of the deviants they really were." RESPONSE: Recent polls in Muslim countries show support for Bin Ladin at 49%. If this is