Why must we never give in to terrorist demands?  The conventional wisdom is that to do so would encourage terrorists.  Sounds like a fair point; if terrorism works, why abandon it?  Refusal to capitulate is especially valid if you're dealing with an imperialistic regime with delusions of grandeur.  However, both terrorism and obstinacy in the face thereof are tactics.  Is the preservation of the integrity of a tactic worth dying for?  I can understand fatal resolve – including the sacrifice of soldiers or self – if the tactic being used (whether a flanking maneuver or the withholding of a ransom) is deemed necessary for a military victory.  But if a maneuver is executed simply because failure to execute it would mean the inability to use such a maneuver in the future – I'm not so sure that that is worth the ultimate sacrifice.  In the case of terrorism, one can easily point to instances where people have capitulated to the demands of terrorists – and then soldiered on to defeat the terrorists in the end.  Similarly, a military force will alternately surrender and vanquish throughout the course of any war.  But what do I know.  We're obviously living in a whole new world and someone hasn't yet taught me the lessons of September 11.  Pardon me while I crawl back in my liberal spider hole and spearhead a circle-jerk with other girly men who hate freedom.