Islamists Owe U.S. a Thank You Card

 Posted by on 8 July 2008 at 12:05 am  Foreign Policy, Religion
Jul 082008
 

It’s nearing the end of another U.S. Administration–and another gross failure of leadership that has allowed Islamic terrorism to adapt and thrive.

The modern threat of Islamic totalitarianism should have ended when it began with the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, but it hasn’t.

Al-Qaeda, declared enemy number one after 9/11, has been reestablishing itself in the remote tribal area between Pakistan and Afganistan ever since U.S. armed forces failed to capture its leader, Osama bin Laden, at Tora Bora in 2001. And Taliban terrorists have resurfaced in these no-man’s lands, increasing their attacks on U.S. and NATO forces within Afganistan.

How is this possible after President Bush’s promise of Sept. 20, 2001: “I will not forget the wound to our country and those who inflicted it. I will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people”?

An excellent New York Times article details three important factors that have facilitated the ongoing threat: (1) infighting within and between our National Security bureaucracies, the State Department and the Administration; (2) the detrimental consequences of turfing onto Pakistan much of the responsibility for fighting these brewing Islamic movements; and (3) the diversion of priorities, expertise and resources to the war in Iraq.

But our inability to prevail against Islamic totalitarianism once and for all is due to a more fundamental cause than committing bureaucratic blunders and relying on shady allies to do our dirty work:

It’s a failure of our leaders to unequivocally declare that we have the moral right to destroy those who threaten us, and do whatever is necessary and sufficient to quickly and permanently end the threat.

It means: if Iran has been identified as the founder and prime sponsor of Islamic totalitarianism, then the Iranian regime must be terminated.

It means: if Islamists are setting up boot camp with the complicity of local tribes in some wasteland, then our forces—not a third party–must wipe them out, totally, using whatever means is required.

It means: we declare to the world that we will not play diplomatic games, rely on bureaucrats with conflicting agendas, or take into account the cultural sensitivities of our enemies or their enablers.

No more holding hands and singing Kumbaya with a mortal enemy who blatantly threatens to annihilate us.

This lack of full commitment to “the war on terror” isn’t lost on the American psyche. Remember when little American flags used to be proudly displayed on millions of cars after the twin towers were attacked? You don’t see much of that anymore because maybe the Islamists have called our bluff.

It’s time to regain our pride, and claim our moral right to exist in peace as a free country defined by the principles of individual rights.

It’s time to implement our moral imperative to decisively end Islamic totalitarianism–once and for all.

   
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