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Mark Steyn: These guys want to kill us anyway
The Weekend Australian ^ | March 15, 2004 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 03/14/2004 6:51:49 AM PST by John Jorsett

"THE bombs dropped on Baghdad exploded in Madrid!" declared one "peace" protester in Spain. Or as Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty put it, somewhat less vividly: "If this turns out to be Islamic extremists . . . it is more likely to be linked to the position that Spain and other allies took on issues such as Iraq."

By "other allies", he means you – yes, you, reading this on the bus to work in Australia. You may not have supported the war, or ever voted for John Howard, but you're now a target. In other words, this is "blowback". This is what you get when you side with the swaggering Texas gunslinger and his neocon Zionist sidekicks.

There are three responses to Commissioner Keelty:

1) Not necessarily.

In his penultimate public appearance, the late Osama bin Laden, broadcasting from his cave in the early hours of the Afghan campaign, listed among his principal grievances "the tragedy of Andalusia" – that is, the end of Muslim rule in Spain in 1492. That's 512 years ago, but the al-Qa'ida guys are in no mood to (as the Democrats used to urge Republicans in the Clinton impeachment era) "move on". After half a millennium, even Paula Jones would have thrown in the towel. But not these fellows. They're still settling scores from the 15th century. They might not get around to Johnny-come-lately grievances such as Iraq until the early 2600s.

2) Commissioner Keelty could be right.

The question then is what does a nation have to do to avoid being targeted by the Islamists. Canada refused to take part in the war on Iraq, but whoever makes Osama's audio tapes these days still named the disinclined dominion as one of al-Qa'ida's enemies. Ireland did no more than allow American aircraft to continue their practice of refuelling at Shannon but that was enough for Robert Fisk to volunteer them for a list of potential Islamist targets.

Turkey refused to let the US attack Iraq from its territory, but they made the mistake of permitting the British to maintain consular and commercial ties, so a bunch of Muslims in Istanbul got slaughtered anyway. France was second to none in the creative energy and elegant deviousness they brought to the undermining of Bush and Blair vis a vis Iraq, and the only thanks they got was the detonation of their oil tanker off the coast of Yemen.

Maybe you could avoid all that by overthrowing the Bush poodles and installing John Pilger as prime minister. But I wouldn't advise it. Before he became a born-again Baathist urging on the Iraqi resistance, Pilger's big pet cause was independence for East Timor, which seemed like a smart move at the time but has since been cited by the Islamofascists as one of the reasons they blew up Bali.

And that brings me to the best response to the commissioner:

3) It makes no difference.

Even if you'd avoided Iraq or Andalusia or British banks or Pilger or any other affront to Islamist sensibilities, you'd still be a target. As the PR guy for the Islamic Army of Aden said after blowing up that French tanker: "We would have preferred to hit a US frigate, but no problem because they are all infidels." Commissioner Keelty is confusing old-school terrorism – blowing the legs off grannies as a means to an end – with the new: blowing the legs off grannies is the end. Old-school terrorists have relatively viable goals: They want a Basque state or Northern Ireland removed from the UK. You might not agree with these goals, you might not think them negotiable, but at least they're not stark staring insane.

That kind of finely calibrated terrorism – just enough slaughter to inconvenience the state into concessions – is all but over. Suppose you're an ETA cell. Suppose you were planning a car-bomb for next month – nothing fancy, just a dead Spanish official plus a couple of unlucky passers-by. Still want to go ahead with it? I doubt it. Despite Gerry Adams's attempts to distinguish between "unacceptable" terrorism and the supposedly more beneficial kind, these days it's a club with only one level of membership. That's why so many formerly active terrorist groups have been so quiet the past couple of years. In that sense, Bush is right: It is a "war on terror", and on many fronts it's being won.

If Islamic terrorism were as rational as Irish or Basque terrorism, it would be easier. But Hussein Massawi, former leader of Hezbollah, summed it up very pithily: "We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you." You can be pro-America (Spain, Australia) or anti-America (France, Canada), but if you broke into the head cave in the Hindu Kush and checked out the hit list you'd be on it either way.

So the choice for pluralist democracies is simple: You can join Bush in taking the war to the terrorists, to their redoubts and sponsoring regimes. Despite the sneers that terrorism is a phenomenon and you can't wage war against a phenomenon, in fact you can – as the Royal Navy did very successfully against the malign phenomena of an earlier age, piracy and slavery.

Or you can stick your head in the sand and paint a burqa on your butt. But they'll blow it up anyway.


TOPICS: Editorial; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: australia; canada; france; marksteyn; marksteynlist; spain; steyn; thegreatsteyn
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1 posted on 03/14/2004 6:51:49 AM PST by John Jorsett
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To: John Jorsett
Or you can stick your head in the sand and paint a burqa on your butt. But they'll blow it up anyway. Maybe Steyn's best line ever!
2 posted on 03/14/2004 6:57:40 AM PST by twntaipan (NY Slimes: Best toilet paper leftists can produce.)
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: John Jorsett
......or you can let the terrorists dictate who runs your government, as they are trying to do in Spain.
4 posted on 03/14/2004 7:06:38 AM PST by Gaetano
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To: John Jorsett
"THE bombs dropped on Baghdad exploded in Madrid!"

The holder of that sign should ask one simple question. "Why were AQ sleeper cells in Spain to begin with?"
5 posted on 03/14/2004 7:07:00 AM PST by cripplecreek (you tell em i'm commin.... and hells commin with me.)
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To: John Jorsett
"We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you."

Worth remembering.

L

6 posted on 03/14/2004 7:07:06 AM PST by Lurker (Don't bite the hand that meads you.)
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To: Pokey78
Ping!
7 posted on 03/14/2004 7:12:27 AM PST by Rutabega (the only good thing about living in Europe was finding out that we captured Saddam two hours early!)
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To: John Jorsett
Oh WOW, this is really, r-e-a-l-l-y weird!

When I woke up this morning and was thinking about the bombing in Spain, I was also thinking about the paradox that while Columbus was sailing in 1492 and 'europe was enlightened', a good portion of Spain was STILL under Muslim rule. Then wah-la Steyn writes this article and, "the tragedy of Andalusia" – that is, the end of Muslim rule in Spain in 1492."

There MUST be a meaning to this?!? Maybe I better get my tin-foil beanie on FAST. Steyn must be communicating with my brain. OR maybe I have ESP?!?

Now where's that tin-foil....

8 posted on 03/14/2004 7:12:31 AM PST by Condor51 ("Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments." -- Frederick the Great)
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To: John Jorsett
"THE bombs dropped on Baghdad exploded in Madrid!" Looks like the left has alredy surrendered.
9 posted on 03/14/2004 7:13:37 AM PST by Redcoat LI ( "help to drive the left one into the insanity.")
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To: twntaipan
dittos!!!
10 posted on 03/14/2004 7:14:57 AM PST by mathluv (Protect my grandchildren's future. Vote for Bush/Cheney '04.)
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To: John Jorsett
Remember the phrase "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute"?

Mohammedans have practiced "divide and conquer" on the Western world before. And the US attempts to form a coalition met with limited success, because (as now) some European countries preferred to appease the Mohammedans.

America and the Barbary Pirates: An International Battle Against an Unconventional Foe, by Gerard W. Gawalt (the manuscript specialist for early American history in the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.)

Ruthless, unconventional foes are not new to the United States of America. More than two hundred years ago the newly established United States made its first attempt to fight an overseas battle to protect its private citizens by building an international coalition against an unconventional enemy. Then the enemies were pirates and piracy. The focus of the United States and a proposed international coalition was the Barbary Pirates of North Africa. [snip]

Jefferson's plan for an international coalition foundered on the shoals of indifference and a belief that it was cheaper to pay the tribute than fight a war.


11 posted on 03/14/2004 7:22:10 AM PST by syriacus (Time to repeal the 22nd Amendment. Give Bush three or four terms.)
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To: Redcoat LI
Hey, check out the hamas sympathizer with the rag around his neck in thr front row. What nerve.

El Cid! Calling El Cid.....

12 posted on 03/14/2004 7:24:55 AM PST by Lion in Winter
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To: John Jorsett
Spain needs another Charlton Heston ( El Cid )
13 posted on 03/14/2004 7:27:32 AM PST by uncbob
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To: John Jorsett
...But not these fellows. They're still settling scores from the 15th century.

That's what makes them so nuts.
14 posted on 03/14/2004 7:29:36 AM PST by baseballmom
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To: John Jorsett
Steyn is always great.

Despite the sneers that terrorism is a phenomenon and you can't wage war against a phenomenon, in fact you can – as the Royal Navy did very successfully against the malign phenomena of an earlier age, piracy and slavery.

Good point. And the U. S. Navy was formed for similar reasons, back when what we now call "Islamic terrorism" was Islamic "piracy." This has been our battle for over 200 years, and it's likely to go on for a long time to come.

15 posted on 03/14/2004 7:30:12 AM PST by 68skylark
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To: Lurker
As one of the Islamic fanatics who inspired al-Qa'eda said: "We are not trying to negotiate with you. We are trying to destroy you."
16 posted on 03/14/2004 7:34:14 AM PST by snooker (Drag a 'botox gigolo' through a swamp, and some dumb gator will always bite.)
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To: John Jorsett
Or you can stick your head in the sand and paint a burqa on your butt. But they'll blow it up anyway.

A classic.

17 posted on 03/14/2004 7:42:59 AM PST by Right_in_Virginia
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To: John Jorsett
All this terrorism will end when one of two things have happened: Either we have killed all of them, or the ones we haven't killed get tired of dying. To quote Bush, "you're either with us or against us." It is so classic leftist mentality to never blame the person who tries to kill you. Instead, you blame the enemy of the person who tried to kill you.

The bombing in Spain was not AlQaeda flexing it's muscle, it was a decimated AlQaeda with few options left, reduced to attacking an easy target. WIth Morrocco next door infiltrating was easy.
18 posted on 03/14/2004 7:44:22 AM PST by Casloy
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To: John Jorsett
Steyn is an absolute treasure!
19 posted on 03/14/2004 7:48:21 AM PST by Aeronaut (The ACLU Doesn't hate all religion, just Christianity!)
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To: Condor51
Actually, 1492 was the year that Muslims were definitively defeated in Spain, after a 700 year fight to get them out. They weren't in control of anything in 1492.

I hope Spain, when it goes to the polls today, remembers that it took them 700 years to get rid of the Muslims the first time around and decides that it would be no fun to have to do it again. If Spain votes for the Socialists, look for Spain to be Muslim-dominated within about five years.
20 posted on 03/14/2004 7:51:10 AM PST by livius
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