I propose that the United States offer Osama bin Lauden a contractual agreement with the following terms: 

bin Lauden agrees to spend the next six months in the US, with all the protective security the US secret service can realistically provide him.

During those six months he agrees to spend three days each week listening to personal accounts of the victims of 9/11. They will be brought to him at US government expense, and encouraged to tell him exactly how they feel and what they lost on 9/11.

He also agrees to spend three days each week explaining to small, local audiences what he has against us as people and as a nation. We will not heckle him, just listen and judge for ourselves.

On the seventh day each week, he agrees to be isolated from all human contact so as to reflect and commune with his God.

At the end of the six month term of the contract, the US agrees to drop him off at the Kabul airport, and to wait one week before taking any further action, thereby returning the situation to where it stands today. After that, if we still feel justified in attacking him with cruise missiles, ground troops or whatever, we reserve the right to do so. If he still feels justified in promoting the destruction of us by any means, he reserves the right to continue doing so. We agree to fulfill the obligations of the contract, including freeing him at the end of the term.

This contract costs us nothing, in fact it buys us six months of international good-will while we carefully plan a military strategy, should one be needed.

Perhaps any picky contractual disputes could be arbitrated by a committee of Saudis and Jordanians.

....Just the humble thoughts of an average high school physics teacher from somewhere in Ohio.

jd

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