and military retaliation as the one unfolding between Palestinians and Israelis in the Gaza Strip for a year.

The United States may be right when holding the network controlled by Bin Laden accountable for the attacks against the Pentagon and the Twin Towers but we would fall into simplification if we only pointed to this personage as the sole responsible of the Muslim fundamentalist terrorism.

The Muslim movement may be found today in the former Soviet Union, China, India, Pakistan, Egypt and Algeria as well as communities in the United States and Europe.

Should Bin Laden vanish, the whole problem would not be solved, neither would it put an end to the Palestinian-Israeli showdown.

We are dealing with a far-reaching and complex issue that challenges the logics of Western defense and security based on the premise that the offender tries to preserve his life or the fact that governments are used to confronting other States and not non-state agents such as fundamentalist terrorism, that also challenges most governments of Arab nations.

Catching or executing Bin Laden would be a highly successful achievement for the US public opinion that is deeply hurt by the terrorist attacks. But in military terms, it would not put a definite end to the scourge of terrorism, whose most efficient weapon is suicide bombs.

Under the thinking of Muslim fundamentalism, should a figure like Bin Laden vanish, more and not less suicide bombs could threaten the world and this is the problem to solve.

Therefore, the military strategy of the West in this conflict must consider that the execution or neutralization of a person no matter how important he may be, can entail considerable success in dismantling dangerous terrorist networks but failure to put a definite end to the global conflict of the third millennium.