John D. Giorgis prescribed what's needed to win the war on terror: > It seems clear to me that truly *winning* the war on > terrorism is going to require eliminating the environments of > oppression and ignorance that have bred the lies, which fuels > the desperation that underlies the decision to > turn to terrorism. This will require bridging the "freedom > defecit" in > the Arab world, and bringing the Arab people into the world > of the free flow of information and participation in governance.
I don't think this is what we need to win the war on terror. In fact, I think it's likely to dramatically escalate the terror, as recent behavior by the terrorists in Iraq is foreshadowing. But I'm still in favor of forcibly democratizing the Middle East as a good deed. In the short run, the people in charge of those countries and the Islamofascists know that freedom will destroy their livelihood and their religion, and they're going to react violently. What will win the war on terror is changing hearts and minds about a single subject: how safe it is to attack the West. We've done a pretty good job so far in Iraq and Afghanistan of impressing on them that it is no longer open season on Americans. I hope this accounts for them not making another major attack on US soil since 9-11. I think they really expected us to go Spanish and run away crying after that. What worries me is that they completely misunderstand Western civilization and seem incapable of comprehending that its tolerance and forbearance come from enormous strength rather than weakness. I hope we won't have to demonstrate that even more forcefully, but if another 9-11 level attack happens, I'm ready to turn the Caaba into the Crater. A radioactive crater, if that will make the point more dramatically. Mike Lee Islamic Moderate _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
