"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the
pursuit of justice is no virtue." -- Barry Goldwater.
As I said before, I generally oppose the death penalty. I oppose it for the
simple reason that it does no good. It is not a deterrent to murder because
people who murder never consider the consequences or they believe they will
never be caught or, as Tim McVeigh, they believe too strongly in the
righteousness of their cause. It is better for a murderer to rot in jail
(preferably in solitary) than to be offered an easy escape from whatever
conscience he may have or may develop. Also, as a Christian, I believe
every sinner should be afforded every opportunity to make his or her peace
with God. An execution cuts short God's redemptive opportunities. Men, such
as Burkowitz (sp?) (Son of Sam) have come to Christ while serving life
sentences. This is a good thing.
But again, let me emphasize my main point -- execution does no good. No
execution has ever saved an innocent life.
And merely killing terrorists is a futile effort. These are crazy people who
believe in death they only become martyrs, so they welcome death. They do
not fear death at the hands of those they seek to terrorize. Killing them
will not stop terrorism because there will, potentially, be more terrorists
rise up.
But they can only rise up if they have the means to exact terror.
How do they get these means? -- from sponsoring states. The countries that
harbor terrorists are the weak link in the terrorism chain. Also, the
training facilities and staging facilities in these countries make terrorism
possible.
In any war -- make no mistake, this is a war -- the practical strategy is to
destroy the enemies ability to fight and to break the people's will to
fight.
Once the "safe harbors" for these terrorists have been identified, the same
rules of engagement that apply in any war must be applied. We must bomb the
terrorist outposts. We must bomb the military, government and industrial
installations of the countries that harbor these terrorists. Of course, we
do not want to see innocent blood shed, but that is a risk that must be
accepted.
We are not talking about taking lives; we are talking about saving lives --
not just the lives of Americans, but the lives of every freedom-loving
person in the world today, and we are protecting freedom for future
generations.
Terrorists must have nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. No government that
knowingly harbors terrorists should be allowed to feel safe or secure.
This is the only just and moral course of action. All civilized nations must
declare war on terrorism because it is the only course of action that might,
hopefully, rid the world of any people who might contemplate engaging in
terrorism.
If we take the so-called high road we have not really proven ourselves
morally superior. What we have done is proven ourselves cowards who are
willing to blithely accept the role of victims. We have not taken the high
road; we have taken the low road -- the low road to more senseless death and
destruction; the low road to the unthinkable proposition that it is okay for
terrorists to kill and injury innocent people.
People who value the sanctity of life cannot in good conscience trod that
road.
H.
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