[danenania]

"People who plan the mass-murder of others around the world are completely irrational"

Clearly untrue. Perhaps it is easier for you to view an enemy as a lunatic monster bent on senseless destruction, but nearly every mass murdering organization in the world, whether it's a terrorist group like Al Qaeda or a military power like the US, has very concrete motivations and objectives for its actions, and is well versed in the logic of power. Realpolitik is deeply rooted in a rational worldview. You may disagree with the premises or the reasoning (I certainly do), but calling Al Qaeda 'completely irrational' is way off.

[swombat]

Actually, I think it's one of our great strokes of luck that the people who do this are largely insane and irrational, rather than careful, methodical, intelligent planners. For example, the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, the guys who tried to drive a burning car through the too-narrow entrance of an airport, and so on. Most of these people are irrational, and that's incredibly lucky for us.

[khafra]

http://www.gwern.net/Terrorism%20is%20not%20about%20Terror.h...