I only read two paragraphs of William Safire's Monday column—as well I should!—but perhaps it somewhere raises an interesting question: How much do the terrorists pay attention to popular opinion here in the U.S.? We're supposed to believe that John Kerry has singlehandedly—okay, he had some help from Tom Daschle—"emboldened" our enemies. But do they even care? What do they make of all this? Do the ordinary, run-of-the-mill Iraqi civilians who die by the handful give a damn what John Kerry thinks? Do they care whether the New York Times runs the latest beheading on Page A1 or on Page A23?

Dammit, I want actual data on terrorist propaganda—its uses, its effects, the effects of this or that response. And I want it quantified. If we can't break down the terrorists in Excel, how are we ever going to win this thing?