Received a thought provoking email from a reader in the U.K who is of the opinion that the war on terror is Bush’s war. I think it was al-Qaeda and bin Laden who declared war on the US and western civilization over ten years ago but that might be called nit-picking by some. May as well call it al-Qaeda’s war. Bush, and America’s allies are just responding. Anyway, my response is below.
I’d just like to say that I think its America’s blind self-righteosness and utter denial of any responsibility for the problems of the world that keeps the cycle of violence going.
Instead of trying to sort out everyone else’s problems for them (at a cost) Bush could do more good by admitting that America (and, to be fair, all of us in the west) are probably responsible for those problems. Also I’d like to say I find it morbidly amusing that Mr. Bush and many others think that they can win their ‘War on Terror’ with military power.
We weren’t in Iraq in 2001 when 9/11 happened. Dittos for the other dozen attacks going back to their first attempt at taking down the twin towers in the early 90’s. But your line of thinking suggests that the terrorists will leave us alone if we do something nice. Like what? When they want us dead, and we want to live, where is there any room for negotiation?The cycle of violence is being broken in Iraq. It’s military power first, then (as we are now seeing) it is the people of Iraq, and not our military, that will finish the job. By them turning against al-Qaeda and similarly minded Islamofascists, they will be either eliminated or reduced to an ineffective level in Iraq. Iran is supplying all of this and the stick needs to be used there as well. No carrots for terrorists.
I would have hoped that, if being beaten in Vietnam had taught them anything, it is that fighting an enemy on their own territory is not that easy. Do they really think that one day they’ll kill the single last terrorist and the war will be over? If so, I think they have a lot to learn. How can one learn from the mistakes of their past if one cannot admit to having made any?
Very few wars are easy. People die and things get broken. That’s war. The Vietnam war was not lost militarily. It was lost politically in Washington. The same liberals that lost the war then are now trying to lose this one.  They’re not learning from history, they’re trying to repeat it. They are the ones that think that defending our country against this threat is a mistake. In fact, some of our so-called leaders in Washington (most of the democrats) don’t believe we’re in a war. (heads in the sand) They think, even after the Muslim doctors’ terrorist attack in your country a few weeks ago, that these attacks are just a rag-tag bunch of hoodlums, and, that we should just wait to be hit again and then we’ll go get them. After they’ve blown up themselves, how does one do that?
This is an ideological war for us. For the enemy it is a religious war. They aren’t known for compromising on their radical view of Islam. Did you believe them when they declared war on us? Do you think we’re in a war now?
If you’re from the UK like your IP address suggests, do you think that sweeping up the debris and burying your citizens is all you need to do to appease these animals? Sending the cops after them AFTER they blow up some more Brits, is that your solution? I prefer taking the fight to them. Fight it in Iraq, Afghanistan, and wherever else these barbarians gather.