Posted on 04/25/2007 11:00:38 PM PDT by neverdem
Do we still need to fight a war on terror?
The answer seems to be no for an increasing number in the West who are weary over Afghanistan and Iraq or complacent from the absence of a major attack on the scale of 9/11.
The British Foreign Office has scrapped the phrase "war on terror" as inexact, inflammatory and counterproductive. U.S. Central Command has just dropped the term "long war" to describe the fight against radical Islam.
An influential book making the rounds - "Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them" - argues that the threat from al-Qaida is vastly exaggerated.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, goes further, assuring us that we are terrorized mostly by the false idea of a war on terror - not the jihadists themselves.
Even onetime neo-conservative Francis Fukuyama, who in 1998 called for the preemptive removal of Saddam Hussein, believes "war" is the "wrong metaphor" for our struggle against the terrorists.
Others point out that motley Islamic terrorists lack the resources of the Nazi Wehrmacht or the Soviet Union.
This thinking may seem understandable given the ineffectiveness of al-Qaida to kill many Americans after 9/11. Or it may also reflect hopes that if we only leave Iraq, radical Islam will wither away. But it is dead wrong for a number of reasons.
First, Islamic terrorists plotting attacks are arrested periodically in both Europe and the United States. Just last week a leaked British report detailed al-Qaida's plans for future "large-scale" operations. We shouldn't be blamed for being alarmist when our alarmism has resulted in our safety at home for the past five years...
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"This is a strange war. Our successes in avoiding attack convince some that the real danger has passed. And when we kill jihadists abroad, we are told it is peripheral to the war or only incites more terrorism. But despite the current efforts at denial, the war against Islamic terrorism remains real and deadly. We can't wish it away until Middle Eastern dictatorships reform - or we end their oil stranglehold over the world economy."
VDH
^
OK, let’s call it the Western World Jihad Against Terrorists...WWJAT.
The American public lose interest in a war as long as the enemy isn’t taking over countries in an obvious way. The only reason the Cold War went on for so long was because the Soviets were always taking over new countries every decade.
Open Letter to Senator Reid on His Declaration of Defeat
http://newsblaze.com/story/20070425213544nnnn.nb/newsblaze/WORLDNEW/story.html
MizSterious is the keeper of the ping list. You have to Freepmail her to get on it.
INTREP
Rosie said they aren’t terrorists, they are mothers and fathers just like us.
ping
We need to publicly admit yes, lower our guard, admit its all over with and then lay a trap for the cowardly Islamofascists.
17 Afghans died in rioting in the city of Jalalabad. I was involved in preparation for rioting at the Entry Control Point at Kandahar Air Field. Newsweek killed those people with their lies. Their successful psychological operation had a kinetic effect in Afghanistan, and on me personally. I haven't forgotten.
We could use you, brother.
...This is a strange war. Our successes in avoiding attack convince some that the real danger has passed. And when we kill jihadists abroad, we are told it is peripheral to the war or only incites more terrorism.
But despite the current efforts at denial, the war against Islamic terrorism remains real and deadly. We can't wish it away until Middle Eastern dictatorships reform - or we end their oil stranglehold over the world economy.
Combined ping to 2 ping lists
Nailed It!
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We're at a point where no Leftists and a dwindling number of Conservatives support the WOT (even on FR--especially lately).
My own fervant support for the WOT hasn't changed since 9-11. But for most Americans, the answer is, yes, the war is over. And that's the seed of a great tragedy to come.
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