I mean, a guy arrested at the scene of a mass shooting, covered in blood and holding an assault rifle, screaming about how the aliens in his head told him to murder all of mankind... still gets a trial. Timothy McVeigh (the second biggest terrorist to attack US soil) got a trial. People who systematically abduct and rape hundreds of little girls and hide their bodies in barrels get a trial.
I'm certain the US would have loved to put him on trial. If he had wanted one, all he had to do was surrender. The loonies you mention, both hypothetical and real, seem to have been willing to be taken alive. Whether he really believed in his 72 virgins or not, he obviously preferred death to arrest.
The recent leak of diplomatic cables offers more evidence that the USA does not seem to respect it's allies. Like what? You really think France or Germany would attack the USA? Not in 1000 years. Most of Europe is not the military, war-waging type. I have a hard time imagining how the USA can justify spying on these countries and their officials. If even the closest allies of the USA are treated with so little trust and respect, then I'm not certain any country can fully trust the USA.
Do you really think that other countries are not doing the same to the US and everyone else? Of course they are. Their cables just haven't been leaked yet.
As far as Europe being all peaceful, present-day Europe has been mostly peaceful, except for some regional wars in the Balkans recently. But prior to the cold war, Europe was nothing but wars going back to the Roman empire and beyond. Even during the cold war, NATO was predicated on the assumption that Europe would again be a battleground, and would need defense. Current events make Europe look peaceful. History, not so much.
Technological superiority, be it military or otherwise, is a race held on a treadmill. Standing still isn't an option. Railguns might buy us 5, 10, 20, maybe 30 years until someone else invents their own (or steals ours), much like stealth fighters, which are now in various stages of making their way into the arsenals of potential opponents around the world.
when you use it for a number with three digits or less your perceived IQ drops by roughly 10-15 points per digit less than four
Metahumor?
In less than a century, computers will be making substantial progress on ... the overriding problem of war and peace. -- James Slagle