The full page manifesto placed by the Penn State Objectivist Club on the back page of yesterday's Collegian was horrendously out of line.

The author, Leonard Peikoff, essentially advocated toppling the governments of Iran and Afghanistan and erasing any last thought of terrorism in those nations, with an eye toward nuclear strikes and ground troop invasion.

The unpleasant fact remains that terrorists enjoy support among Arabs because, as Peikoff himself states, "(Islamist) terrorism is ultimately a struggle of ideas, which can be dealt with only by intellectual and philosophical means."

That's why the Bush administration left several notoriously active terrorist groups off of the recently compiled list of offenders, because the United States does not want to lose too much support among Middle Eastern nations, especially not Egypt or Saudi Arabia.

The Objectivist Club members obviously endorse Peikoff's views, but I hope they give thought to the consequences of a full-fledged war on Afghanistan and Iran.

Far from destroying terrorists, such an action would spawn more militants, angry with the United States and hungry for vengeance.

We have toppled Iran's government before, back in the 50's, to instate our own, United States-friendly shah.

If Penn State libertarians wish to read about that debacle from the standpoint of a libertarian, they should check out "Ancient History: U.S. Conduct in the Middle East Since WWII and the Folly of Intervention," by Sheldon Richman of the Cato Institute.