About seven weeks ago, an Israeli helicopter flew into the West Bank town of Nablus, targeting two leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organization known as Hamas. The two men, Jamal Mansour and Jamal Salim, were instantly killed. Four other men in the Hamas offices and two young boys standing outside were also fatally wounded when the choppers fired.

Palestinians were predictably outraged at the attack, and they vowed retaliation. The European press, which has long been critical of Israel’s methods in its war on terrorism, seemed almost united in its condemnation of the military strike. Even the U.S., Israel’s staunchest ally, expressed disapproval. But rather than buckle under the international criticism and soften their stance on terrorist activity, the Israelis remained steadfast in their commitment to preserve their national security.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office maintained that Mansour and Salim “were in the process of planning further terrorist attacks,” and therefore the preventive measures were justified. The Israeli government clearly felt no ethical ambiguity in risking collateral damage, for the Hamas leaders had been responsible for murders in the past and would surely have continued their evil ways in the future.

After the recent attacks on Washington, D.C. and New York City, our nation has finally realized that we can no longer treat terrorists like other criminals in the legal process. The very nature of their horrific crimes places them outside the rule of law. They need to be eliminated as quickly as possible to ensure the safety of others. We now realize what Israel has known all along: terrorists are evil people, plain and simple. The life of any person who is connected with murderous, bloodthirsty terror organizations cannot rationally be compared with the life of an office-worker in the World Trade Center, a secretary in the Pentagon or a teenager at an Israeli nightclub. All efforts should be made to eradicate these terrorists from our planet, for they have proven that their sole intention is to trap innocent civilians inside a life of fear and unspeakable horrors.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll from two days after the bombing showed that 93 percent of Americans support military action against the groups or countries that perpetrated the violence (assuming that our intelligence forces can positively identify the responsible parties). Even if this action draws the U.S. into a full-scale war, 86 percent would still support it. President George W. Bush has virtually unprecedented backing for a retaliatory military campaign, which could likely expand into a generic assault on all international terrorists.