TERRORIST OVERREACH

New York Post ^ | 8/13/04 | RALPH PETERS

[kattracks]

[snip]

Osama bin Laden lost a great propaganda tool when he stopped allowing video cameras near him. (He grew too afraid for his personal safety after 9/11.) But the terrorists' real "secret weapon" has been the Internet, the greatest means of disseminating hatred in history, more virulent by far than even the printing press.

For years, Islamic extremists used the 'Net with confidence and skill. It became their virtual empire and a citadel within which they could muster. Now — as a result of the seizure of over 50 computer discs in Pakistan and, by some reports, a thousand in Britain, along with loaded hard drives, Web address books and so much data we've barely begun to decipher it — al Qaeda must fear each next keystroke.

Even before the recent arrests, al Qaeda and its allies found themselves restricted in their abilities to travel, to raise funds and even to use cell phones (another great terrorist tool). By diffusing their efforts instead of concentrating on one objective, they created enemies for themselves among governments that had long looked the other way.

The terrorists have been their own worst enemies, always over-reaching in time to prevent the world from forgetting that the threat is real and immediate. Their madness will be their undoing.

Ralph Peters is the author of "Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World."

[AFPhys]

The recent wave of arrests, from Pakistan through the Middle East to Britain, stunned the terrorists and sent them crawling for ever-deeper cover. The blow against terror has been so indisputable that even our embrace-the-terrorists-with-understanding crowd stopped crying that the War on Terror's a failure (note the shift in campaign rhetoric).

But it's also a fact that this struggle is far from over. It will take at least a full generation — perhaps much longer — to rid the world of the demons who have appointed themselves as Allah's executioners.

I think these observations made by Peters are just great! Important to keep in mind...

[AFPhys]

Counter to the made-on-campus nonsense that we can't succeed against terror, it's the terrorists who can't win. They can do horrific damage, creating scenes of slaughter among the innocent. But when it comes to employing such mega-violence, the terrorists are damned if they do, and damned if they don't. The terrorists need to stage spectacular events to convince the world of their power, to reassure their supporters of their continued viability and to draw fresh blood to the movement. Few flock to join a fugitive in a basement, but an Osama bin Laden allowed to appear triumphant — the Clinton administration's approach — is a magnet for every psychopath in the Muslim world.

Gee ... the more I read this article, the more I discover the depth of wisdom in its observations.

Thank you President Bush for changing our approach!

[DB]

I think Osama doesn't use video cameras any more because he's dead. I can't believe he wouldn't create new video to rally the troops to prove he's alive and stick to us if he were still alive.