July 07, 2005, 11:28 a.m.
War Footing
The attack
in London is a stark reminder of what we must do to prevail.
The wave of bomb attacks that shattered the morning
rush hour in London today should also destroy the complacency with which many
Americans had come to view the war being waged against us by terror-wielding
foes. The death and destruction in the subway system known as the "Tube" below
ground and on a bus above is a vivid reminder of a central reality of our time:
While we have been spared such horrors here for nearly four years, anyone who
thinks we can safely divert our attention from this threat is kidding himself,
and putting the rest of us at grave risk.
At this writing, not much is
known about the extent let alone the detailed nature or specific perpetrators
of the bloodletting in London. What is clear, however, is that the attackers
exhibited the sort of calculation and ruthlessness that has come to be
associated with the ideology at the heart of the war on terror: Islamofascism.
Synchronized attacks on public infrastructure and spaces with a view to
murdering as many civilians as possible and timed to interrupt or otherwise
influence national or international events is a hallmark of those we have been
fighting since 9/11 in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere around the globe.
It is surely premature to draw too many lessons from this latest terrorist
incident before the dust has settled, literally. Still a few conclusions seem
unavoidable:
First, the determination of our enemies to destroy as many
of us as possible remains a threat to all Western democratic societies. Notions
that the Free World can safely disengage from this war or any of its fronts
including Iraq should be put to rest along with the unwarranted sense of
security born of the absence of deadly post-9/11 attacks here at home.
Second, the nature of those Western societies in particular, their
openness, their civil liberties, and the freedom of movement they encourage
makes them particularly susceptible to such attacks, as well as the object of
the enemy's malevolence.
Third, infrastructure like public
transportation are obvious targets for our foes. They are difficult to protect,
have many exploitable vulnerabilities, and if attacked can almost guarantee
sizeable casualties and extensive economic dislocation. Like the pre-election
bombings in Madrid's train system last year, those today were timed to
capitalize upon and affect a major political event: the G-8 summit meeting being
hosted by Britain at Gleneagles, Scotland.
Fourth, for the authorities to have any hope of contending with such threats,
they are going to have to engage the public to a far greater extent than has
been done to date. Vastly multiplying the eyes and ears alert to potential
attacks and to those involved in their planning or execution is essential in
free societies. In particular, the U.S. government must make a redoubled effort
to enlist and empower the American people in this and other aspects of the war
effort, notwithstanding the protests to be expected from anti-war and civil
liberties activists.
Fifth, governments, like their publics, must remain
seized with and give priority to countering terrorists and their state-sponsors.
While Tony Blair's stated determination to have the G-8 meeting remain focused
on the priorities he had previously set specifically, debt relief and other
aid for Africa and initiatives meant to affect global warming is
understandable, the reality is that the focus on agenda items that are unrelated
to waging and prevailing in this war is a distraction we cannot afford at the
moment. To be sure, that Islamofascism is advancing in sub-Saharan Africa argues
for devising strategies for countering that menace. Those should not be
confused, however, with feel-good measures that are likely to prove, at best, to
be undisciplined and probably counterproductive.
Sixth, whether Islamists
prove to have been responsible for today's attacks in London or not, concerted
efforts are in order to counter and defeat their ideology. This requires not
only military measures aimed at disrupting their operations and denying the
safe-havens from which they are prepared and launched. In addition to denying
the terrorists funding and material support, we must also engage in political
warfare of the type that previously de-legitimized and helped undermine Soviet
communism. Our natural allies in such a strategy and its principal focus
should be non-Islamist Muslims. After all, they are as much at threat from the
Islamofascists, who seek to dominate them, as are the rest of
us.
Finally, steps that will reward Islamofascists for their terrorism
while weakening the West's ability to defend against them should be urgently
reconsidered. The most imminent of these is the creation of a new state-sponsor
of terror in the Palestinian territories the inevitable result of Israel's
planned surrender of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank under present,
and foreseeable, circumstances. Islamists in those areas, notably Hamas, are
making clear their conviction that it is their terror that will be responsible
for "liberating" such territories and that they will use the latter to further
the liberation of other, still-"occupied" lands. This is hardly a perception we
wish to reinforce, or an outcome we wish to facilitate.
Britain was not
the only nation attacked today. Of course, it has borne the blow. But it is the
Western world of which the United Kingdom is a critical part that has been
shown once again to be in the crosshairs of terrorists. Applying preliminary
insights like the foregoing will help all of us counter and, in due course,
defeat the foes that use terror against us.
Frank J. Gaffney Jr. is an NRO contributor and
president of the Center for
Security Policy in Washington.
