The war has widened in Israel, as Hezbollah implied it would. Missile strikes from Lebanon are reported. Israel is said to be striking back at missile sites with war planes, but there is no confirmation of this. The expansion of the war follows the logic of extremism: the truce broke down, and Hamas' sympathizers have edged into the conflict.

Extremism has it's own logic. That logic is to generate hate between moderates who identify with culture, or nationality, or ethnicity, because of the actions of the extremists. They understand that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and they hope for a world blinded by rage. The released transcripts of the Pakistani attacks in the Mumbai massacre underline precisely how inhuman extremism is, and precisely how clearly this dynamic is understood:

Oberoi Trident Hotel

0353 hours

Pakistan caller 1: Brother Abdul. The media is comparing your action to 9/11. One senior police official has been killed.

Mumbai terrorist 1: We are on the 10th/11th floor. We have five hostages.

Pakistan caller 2: Everything is being recorded by the media. Inflict the maximum damage. Keep fighting. Don't be taken alive.

Pakistan caller 1: Kill all hostages, except the two Muslims. Keep your phone switched on so that we can hear the gunfire.

Mumbai terrorist 2: We have three foreigners, including women. From Singapore and China.

Pakistan caller 1: Kill them.

(Voices of gunmen can be hearddirecting hostages to stand in a line, and telling two Muslims to stand aside. Sound of gunfire. Sound of cheering voices.)

It means, as James Fallows, guest tonight on Virtually Speaking points out, that extremists ask the important question: "what happens then?" The extremist understands that those who were part of the uncommitted majority become committed. That extreme action creates extreme response, and this makes more extremists. Whether in India, or Gaza.

The Mumbai attackers compared their actions to 9/11. They wanted an act that would radicalize, not the Pakistani state, but the Indian state. They wanted India to turn to force, and in doing so, create more adherents to their cause. India followed the attacks, not with aggression, but with restraint and continued diplomatic pressure. Instead of invading Pakistan, the country whose nationals carried out the strike, or even bombing it, they began to pressure Pakistan to do something itself. This is difficult for the Pakistani government to do, but it is easier than a confrontation that neither nation can afford. Even in the middle of massacring civilians, the extremist thinks about the long term implications of his actions. To defeat extremists, is to deny them the knee jerk response to anger, and thus cut off their attack.

Osama bin Laden's objective was to draw the United States into protracted direct confrontation with Islamic populations, thus assuring that a generation grew up within earshot of American bombs, and like a civilian in Kristof's most recent column “From now on, I am Hamas. I choose resistance.” When a cease fire is broken by Israel striking with a fighter bomber that kills a man and a woman in a car, it is easy to see that the extremist are winning in their war to blind the world with rage.