It's a World War

Jerusalem Post ^ | March 14, 2003 | Anonymous

[Piranha]

From Bali, Casablanca, and Manhattan to Moscow, New Delhi, and Madrid, the evidence is too vast, clear, and appalling to ignore: The world is at war.

Having been in the thick of this mayhem longer than others, Israel is routinely asked by states victimized by terrorism to help in a variety of aspects, from intelligence gathering and targeted killings to bomb detection and corpse identification. The victims are, of course, doing well to seek such assistance in Israel, and Israel is right in offering it. However, besides such technical aid there is a mental syndrome that frequently afflicts new terrorism targets, and which Israel can help combat: it's called denial.

The haste with which Spanish officials blamed Thursday's atrocities on an organization that insisted it did not perpetrate them, ETA, while stubbornly denying reports that the ones responsible for the Madrid Massacre are those who indeed soon assumed responsibility for it – al-Qaida – reflected a mental refusal to join the list of the fundamentalist scourge's victims.

We in Israel have undergone three different stages of denial before finally realizing that, whether or not we like it, we have got business with the Islamist beast, and that dealing with it must involve less talk and more action.

Some of us may still recall how in the mid-'90s cops, politicians, and the press reflexively attributed several terrorist attacks to regular rather than politically motivated criminals, or how Yitzhak Rabin himself – after the first bus bombings – still insisted that terrorism did not pose a strategic threat. That stage of denial ended as the frequency and magnitude of the terrorist attacks left no room for doubts concerning their origins, resources, and determination.

The next stage of denial was about the cause. For a while, many here thought the terrorists could be either manipulated by Western negotiators or persuaded by Arab leaders to lay down their arms, provided their grievances were heard and some of their demands heeded.

Israel has since learned that terrorism cannot be beaten by satisfying "grievances." America, which until 9/11 was also plagued by the denial syndrome, has since launched a global war on fundamentalist terrorism and Middle East autocracy. Europe, however, has not joined America's ideological cause, and that goes even for Britain, which is Washington's closest EU ally.

Now, some Spaniards can be expected to blame themselves for their own victimization. If Spain had not joined the war on Iraq, they will say, it would not have been attacked. We cannot but implore Spain to avoid that kind of thinking; we've been through all that and can now confidently say that Spain was targeted not for anything it did or failed to do, but for what it is, namely a country that embraces and offers all the freedoms that Muslim fundamentalism detests.

Lastly, even when it finally understands its situation, Spain might still resort to denial when it will come to identifying its enemies. Israel, and the US, initially assumed that most Middle East governments are their partners in the war on terrorism. That was the rationale behind Bill Clinton's gathering of the Sharm e-Sheikh summit in the spring of '96. Sadly, as violence accelerated it emerged that most Middle East regimes are not prepared to actively fight terrorism, and that some are not only not prepared to be part of terrorism's solution but are actually part of its problem.

Spain has been a close friend of most Arab regimes since the days of Franco's rule. While the country's subsequent transition to democracy has fortunately generated formal and healthy ties with Israel, Madrid remained a pillar of Western acquiescence with Arab dictatorship. Last week's carnage should change this.

Spain and the rest of Europe must understand that, just like last century's threat to their future was fascism, this century it is the militant form of Islam, and that just like Nazism's in its time, the jihad's excuses for its mass-murders are not even worth a hearing. Europe must concede it is at war, and has no choice but to fight it until it is won.

The jihadis see Europe and America as a common enemy against which they hope to play divide and conquer. The longer Europe waits to join with America in common cause, the more the war will escalate and spread, including within Europe. The sooner Europe joins the fight, the sooner these massacres will end and the cause of freedom and human rights will prosper.

[Piranha]

People forget that while Bill Clinton was appeasing the terrorists during the 1990s, the Israeli government was doing the same.

Anyone remember "sacrifices for peace"?

[Diogenesis]

Israel STILL appeases and releases terrorists.

PARTIAL LIST OF ISLAMIC TERRORIST ACTIVITIES

1968 Robert Kennedy assassinated
1972 Munich Olympic Massacure Sep-5,1972 (Black September)
1976 Entebbe Hostage Crisis, June 27, 1976
1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, Nov. 4, 1979 444 days
1979 Grand Mosque Seizure, Nov 20,1979
1981 Assassination of Egyptian President, Oct 6,1981
1982 Assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister, Sept 14, 1982
1983 Bombing of US Embassy in Beirut6, April 18,1983
1983 Bombing of Maring Barricks, Beruit, Oct 23,1983
1984 Hizballah Restaurant Bombing, April 12,1984
1985 Egyptian Airliner Hijacking, Nov 23,1985
1985 Rome Airport murders
1985 TWA Flight 847 hijacked, U.S. Navy diver murdered
1985 Achille Lauro hijacking, Homacidal maniac lived in saddams Iraq
1986 Aircraft Bombing in Greece, March 30, 1986
1988 Pan Am 747 Flight 103 Bombing, Lockerbie, 100's murdered
1988 Berlin Discoteque Bombing, Dec 21,1988
1992 Bombing in Israeli Embassy in Argentina, March 17,1992
1993 Attempted Assassination of Pres. Bush Sr., April 14,1993
1993 First World Trade Center bombing, February 26th, 7 Killed, Hundreds injured, Billions
1994 Air France Hijacking, Dec 24,1994
1995 Attack on US Diplomats in Pakistan, Mar 8,1995
1995 Saudi Military Installation Attack, Nov 13, 1995
1995 Kashmiri Hostage taking, July 4,1995
1996 Khobar Towers attack
1996 Sudanese Missionarys Kidnapping, Aug 17,1996
1996 Paris Subway Explosion, Dec 3,1996
1997 Israeli Shopping Mall Bombing, Sept 4, 1997
1997 Yemeni Kidnappings, Oct 30,1997
1998 Somali Hostage taking crisis, April 15,1998
1998 U.S. Embassy Bombing in Peru, Jan 15, 1998
1998 U.S. Kenya Embassy blown up, 100's murdered
1998 U.S. Tanzania Embassy blown up, 100's murdered
1999 Plot to blow up Space Needle (thwarted)
2000 USS Cole attacked, many U.S. Navy sailors murdered
2000-2003 Intifada against Israel - 100's dead and injured
2000 Manila Bombing, Dec 30,2000
2001 4 Commercial airliners hijacked, 250+ murdered
2001 World Trade Center attacked, 2800+ murdered
2001 Flight 93 murders
2001 Pentagon attacked, 180+ murdered
2002 Reporter Daniel Pearl, kidnapped and murdered
2002 Philippines American missionary, Filipino nurse killed
2002 July 4, El Al attack Los Angeles LAX, several murdered
2002 Bali bombing - 200 dead, 300 injured
2002 Yemen, French Oil Tanker attacked
2002 Marines attacked / murdered in Kuwait
2002 Washington D.C. sniper
2002 Russian Theater attacked, 100+ dead
2002 Nigerian riots against Miss World Pageant, 200 dead, dozens injured
2002 Mombasa Hotel Attacked, 12 dead, dozens injured
2002 Israeli Boeing 757 attacked by missiles, fortunately no one injured
2002 August Hotel bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia. 12 dead, dozens injured.
2003 Rusian concert bombing
2003 Phillipines airport and market bombing
2003 Foiled SAM plot in the USA
2003 UN Baghdad HQ Bombing

[Piranha]

Perhaps the Moderator can fix the headline. It should just say "It's a World War"

I don't know how to ping the moderator.

[NCjim]

Would you please fix the headline? Thanks!

[Piranha]

Thank you.

[Crazieman]

Press Report Abuse on your own topic and ask for the changes you want(thats what I was told)

[TomGuy]

The NY Daily News had this article today:

World War III strikes Spain


It seems some of the media are recognizing this as a world war and are starting to label it as such.

[trek]

"The Terrorist Threat has been exaggerated"

Presumptive Democrat nominee John F. Kerry.

[Atchafalaya]

Truer words have never been written than this post lays out as plain as the nose on your face and the hand that will grab your throat. "involve less talk and more action" is a mindset that should have been implemented years ago. Parents, teach your children well!

[zarf]

I question what options the Chechen's have in dealing with Russia. Russia has been ruthless towards the Chechen people and cities.

The Russian army has devastated and destroyed all in it's path in Chechnya.

This was before the ragheads were deeply involved.

[Savage Beast]

The September 11 attack has not been repeated on American soil--thanks to President George W. Bush.

It is not because Al-Qaida didn't want to repeat it. It is not because Al-Qaida didn't try to repeat it. It is because Al-Qaida could not repeat it, and that is because of George Bush!

Furthermore--President Bush has fought the war in Al-Qaida's territory and not in America, as Al-Qaida planned to do when it declared war on the US.

President Bush has done an excellent job, and he must be re-elected!

[jpf]

Right now we have a President who wakes up every morning wondering how he can protect the American people. Let's hope we don't end up with Kerry sitting in the oval office wondering to himself, "Now, what would Jacques Chirac want me to do?"

[Piranha]

There's never an excuse for terrorism against civilians.

As to the Chechen war, I confess that I haven't kept up, but see this quotation from a Washington Post article:

"In Russia, U.S. officials increasingly accept Moscow's portrayal of the Chechen war as part of an international battle against terrorism but avoid endorsing the brutal tactics Russian troops employ against civilians. Human rights groups, on the other hand, consider it an exaggeration to link Chechen rebels to al Qaeda and say that widespread Russian abuses in the southern republic perpetuate a cycle of violence that begets terrorism."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A46243-2003Dec31&notFound=true

[glaux]

Sadly, many in the US and Israel have deluded themsleves into believing that their worst enemy is Mel Gibson.

[Smartass]

The Dems, including Kerry want to make nice with the terrorists. The Dems keep saying there were no ties between Iraq and Al-Qaida. However, the recent attack in Spain should put that issue to rest. Reasoning, why would Al-Qaida strike Spain for it's involvement in the Iraq war, if they was not some sort of connection?

[Piranha]

With all respect, I think that the people who are getting worked up about Gibson's movie are multitasking. I'm pretty sure that most of them (at least) recognize that the threat from Islamic terrorism is infinite orders of magnitude worse than their worst fears of an anti-Jewish backlash from the movie.

[Howie66]

Let's make it official.....ISLAM is behind World Terrorism. ISLAM needs to be ERADICATED from the face of the Earth, right along side of LIBERALISM/SOCIALISM.

[jpf]

Or better yet, why would Bin laden cite our sanctions against Iraq as his FIRST reason for declaring war on us? The reason, Iraq fit into his plans for the middle east,that's why...not so much any more. Soon the only plans he'll be making will involve finding a nice shady spot in hell.

[Howie66]

Hanoi John Effin Kerry has been exaggerated.

The very best part of this boy ended up as a stain on a mattress.

[zarf]

I think in some cases, as in Moscow, perhaps there is a justificatiion for desparate measures by desparate people (the Chechens) who have no other means of defiance.

I differentiate this from the recent phenomenon of foreign Muslim infiltration and hijacking of the Chechen resistance to advance Islamic fundamentalism by any means necessary.

In terms of the Chechen people....what are the options for countrymen of the dead who have been brutally slaughtered at Russian hands?