If we're going to talk about "nation building," it would be extremely helpful to define the word "nation."

A great deal of the disunity between Bin Laden and America is based on differing perceptions of how men and women ought to get along. It's difficult to reconcile his view of women with American customs.

The only common purpose powerful enough to build a nation is greed.

Few people argue that it's OK for a woman, even an abused woman, to shoot a man in cold blood when she's not in danger at the time. There are shelters for battered women, and the staff know not to tell who's there. So why can't women just leave?

The Romans understood nation building, an art we and the British have forgotten.