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September 29, 2006 12:12 AM
Terrorists Excuse du Jour
If there were no Iraq war, extremists would just find another rallying cry.
By Jonah Goldberg
Of course the war in Iraq has made us less safe, and I didnt need
the National Intelligence Estimate to tell me so. Who could possibly deny that
Iraq has become, in the words of the NIE, a cause célèbre for jihadists? One
need only read the newspaper to conclude that Iraq is spawning more terrorists.
(Indeed, one fears that all the authors of the NIE did was clip from the
newspapers.)
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Terrorists Excuse du Jour 09/29
When Push Comes to Torture 09/27
No Hero 09/22
Jihad Enablers 09/20
Governing Realities 09/15
America the Treacherous 09/13
Ledeen: Cognitive Dissonance
Hanson: Traitors to the Enlightenment
Derbyshire: September Diary
Novak: History by Harley
Miller: Uncomfortable Genes
Cusey: Must-See TV
Miller: Senate Outlook
Zalenski: October 1, 2006
May: With Fear and Favor
Johnson: Twist-Tied in L.A.
Bartlett: The Truth About Wages
Hart: How to Get a College Education
If youve ever stood up to a bully, you know how this works. Confrontation
tends to increase the chances of violence in the short term but decreases its
likelihood in the long term. Any hunter will tell you that the most dangerous
moment is when youve cornered an animal, and any cop will tell you that
standing up to muggers puts you in danger. American colonists were less safe
for standing up to King George III, and the United States was certainly safer
in the short term when we stood on the sidelines while Germany was conquering
Europe. Heck, we would have been safer in the short run if wed responded to
Pearl Harbor by telling the Japanese they could have the Pacific to themselves.
After 9/11, there were voices on the left warning that an attack on Afghanistan
would only perpetuate the dreaded cycle of violence. Today, Democrats tout
their support of that good war as proof they arent soft on terrorism. Fair
enough, I suppose. But guess what? That war made us less safe too if the
measure of such things is creating more terrorists. A Gallup poll taken in
nine Muslim nations in February 2002 found that more than three-fourths of
respondents considered the liberation of Afghanistan unjustifiable. A mere 9%
supported U.S. actions. That goes for famously moderate Turkey, where
opposition to the U.S. ran three to one, and in Pakistan, where a mere one in
20 respondents took the American side.
In other words, before Iraq became the cause célèbre of jihadists, Afghanistan
was. Does that mean we shouldnt have toppled the Taliban?
Going back further, its conventional wisdom that we helped create Osama bin
Laden, or his Taliban and mujahadin comrades, when we supported the Afghan
resistance to the Soviet Union. So we shouldnt have done that either?
Every serious analysis of the Islamic world today describes a genuine tectonic
shift in a vast civilization, an upheaval that cuts across social, religious
and demographic lines. This phenomenon dwarfs transient issues such as the Iraq
war. Are we to believe that once-moderate and relatively secular Morocco is
slipping toward extremism because we toppled Baathist Saddam Hussein? Do we
believe that those mobs who burned Danish embassies in response to a cartoon
wouldnt have done so if only President Bush had gone for the 18th, 19th or
20th U.N. resolution on Iraq? Millions of young men yearning for meaning and
craving outlets for their rage would have become computer programmers and
dental hygienists if only Husseins statue still towered over central Baghdad?
Would the Popes comments spark nothing but thoughtful and high-minded debate
from the Arab street if only Al Gore or John Kerry were in office?
Iraq is the excuse du jour for jihadists. But the important factor is that
these are young men looking for an excuse. If you live your life calculating
that its a mistake to do anything that might prompt murderers and savages to
act like murderers and savages, youve basically decided to live under their
thumb and surrender your civilization in the process.
For me, the truly dismaying news this week didnt come from the NIE but from
the German media. A German opera house announced that it would cancel its
staging of Mozarts Idomeneo because Berlin police concluded that staging the
opera which includes a scene in which Jesus, Buddha, Poseidon and Muhammad
are beheaded would pose an incalculable security risk from jihadists.
Germany, recall, proudly opposed the Iraq war but still narrowly missed a
Spain-style terrorist attack on its rail system this summer.
A leading Muslim spokesman in Germany explained that he was all for free
speech, as long as it didnt offend Muslims. The Germans all-too-typical
appeasement of terrorism no doubt makes them safer and creates fewer
terrorists.
And all it cost them for now is Mozart.
©2006 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
Libertarian Republicans
Fiscally Conservative, Socially Tolerant & Pro-Defense!
Dondero is a US Navy Veteran, former Libertarian Party National Committeeman,
fmr. Senior Aide to US Congressman Ron Paul R-TX, and Founder of the Republican
Liberty Caucus. www.mainstreamlibertarian.com
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