Saddam Hussein richly deserved his execution, but Iraq is no less a strategic disaster for America because of it. It will be years, if not decades, until the world overcomes all of the consequences of George W. Bush's misbegotten war.

Most people - other than President Bush, who admits that "we're not winning" but still thinks the invasion was a good idea - recognize that the U.S. should not have attacked Iraq. There remains wide disagreement over what to do now, however.

What should a large group of bystanders do if they see a handful of attackers unjustly assaulting and tormenting an unarmed individual?

The answer seems obvious: come to the victim's aid by disarming and overpowering the attackers.

But on November 14, when UCLA student Mostafa Tabatabainejad was assaulted in the university library, about 50 shocked and angry students stood by, protesting and shouting but not intervening, though the assailants were much fewer in number and were armed only with nonlethal weapons.

Why didn't the students intervene? Because the assailants were campus police.

"Neutrality and silence in the face of oppression always aid the oppressors. American pulpits must not cower from speaking truth to power."

- Reverend Ed Bacon, All Saints Episcopal Church

On October 31, 2004, just two days before the presidential election, George Regas, the retired pastor of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, was invited to deliver a guest sermon at the church. In his sermon titled "If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry & President Bush," Regas urged the congregation to vote their conscience in the upcoming election. However, he was quick to say of the debate, "Jesus does win! And I don't intend to tell you how to vote."

Nearly five years into the "war on terror," it's still at the core of American media and politics.

Yeah, I've seen the recent polls showing a drop in public support for President Bush's "war on terror" claims. And I've read a spate of commentaries in recent months celebrating Bush's current lack of political traction on the terrorism issue, like the New York Times piece by Frank Rich triumphantly proclaiming that "the era of Americans' fearing fear itself is over."

That's a comforting thought, hovering somewhere between complacent and delusional.