Posted on 07/05/2003 7:50:42 PM PDT by adamyoshida
Savages
July 5th, like virtually every other day in recent memory, has brought multiple terrorist outrages. In Russia, a pair of Muslim suicide bombers killed at least sixteen people. In Iraq, Islamists set off a bomb which killed seven police recruits. Barely a day on this Earth goes by where some Islamic extremists do not murder at least a few civilians. There is a reason for this: the Islamists have discovered the terror works because the leaders in most of the West are too irresolute to fully comprehend the fact that terror can only be fought with terror.
It is in the long-term interests of the world that a close alliance be forged between the United States and Russia. As the two great powers faced with deepest threats from radical Islam, Russia and America have a common enemy- and they have a common solution to their problems: to wipe out the terrorists. More than that, bringing the Russia closer to the United States will hopefully prevent it from becoming closer to continental Europe, thereby placing extreme pressure from the European Union from the East.
There is only one way to deal with Islamists: to kill them. The goals of Islamists are unlimited and their dedication of total- virtually every freed Islamic terrorist’s first goal upon his release is to plan new acts of terror. Most of them spend their time in prison doing the same. Keeping Muslim terrorists alive is a security threat, in that it does not take them forever off the chessboard of the world and, even worst still, a waste of valuable oxygen. The only permissible reason for allowing an Islamist thug to live should be his willingness and ability to provide information: either voluntarily or involuntarily. Those who are uncooperative should be disposed of the moment they cease to be useful. Those who are helpful ought to be allowed to live, under close surveillance, but they should be eliminated the moment it is seems that they might again pose a threat.
I think that the Russians understand this. Their decade-long experience in Afghanistan has taught them the perils of half-war and of allowing any quarter to Islamists. The main thing preventing them from totally destroying the al-Qaeda backed Chechen bandits is the threat of Western disapproval and the cut-off of Western aid. Although it is true that Russia was singularly unhelpful before and during the war in Iraq, that is not sufficient reason to hang them out to dry in Chechnya and all of the other places were they are fighting Muslim insurgents. The United States should assure Russia that whatever happens in Chechnya (or in Georgia, for that matter) is of no concern to the United States and promise to make up for any loans or aid lost as a result of sanctions on three conditions: that, under no circumstances, will the experience of Iraq will not be repeated, that Russia will immediately cease all aid to Iran and North Korea, and that Russia will make no attempt to formally associate itself with the European Union.
To fight terrorism we need a combination of the Russian and American way of war. In a typically American fashion civilians in war zones should be fed, clothed, sheltered, defended, and not made subject to reprisals for terrorist acts committed by their relatives and friends. However, for those who engage in, support, or advocate terrorism there should be no quarter and no mercy. Membership in groups like al-Qaeda or the Fedayeen should be declared to be an offence punishable by death- and should always be punished in this fashion. These policies must be maintained, despite all pressure to change them. Two faults are at the core of every campaign against insurgents: an undue harshness towards civilians or a lack of vigour against the guerrillas. The civilians must be fed and nourished; the terrorists must be butchered and slaughtered.
This brings me to the second matter I wish to discuss: the coming war over the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. The British media will soon fly into a tizzy because two of the terrorists set to be tried there are British citizens. But, fundamentally, that doesn’t matter a whit. A terrorist is a terrorist- regardless of whether he was born in London or Riyadh- they all deserve the same fate.
We must keep this in mind as the long war goes on. This war can end in only one way: the final destruction of Islamism.
This being the case, it makes me wonder why you bother calling them "Islamic extremists" and not just Islamists? "Islamic extremists" indicates they are a small minority, but daily suicide bombings over a protracted period of time indicates otherwise. This so-called 'minority' keeps getting replaced by other extremists when they kill themselves, which means that extremism is at the core of Islam. Islam equals extremism. Isn't it time yet to drop the pc editing and call a spade a spade?
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