The West can't really "lose that war"
Reader comment on item: Democrats Unlearn 9/11

Submitted by Alain Jean-Mairet (Switzerland), Jan 7, 2004 at 11:46

If the U.S. government goes back to its pre-9/11 policies, the country will suffer more aggression, to be sure, but then the will to fight would flare up again. And Islamism is living from violence and rebellion. It cannot survive its war: without enemies, without "martyrdom", it would lose its dynamic.

But, war or not, something must be done to prevent new attacks.

Unfortunately, the very fact that the U.S. is successful in keeping the terrorism off its homeland is leading many (Americans) to think that the real danger is not worth the effort and burden to avoid it. The U.S. thus has to do something that pleases the partisans of the police action in order to keep the war mechanism up and running.

I would "ask" those people what they want. Probably less administrative chaos, more money or some better instructions on how to use it for the given purpose (anti-terrorism) to local (especially health and social) authorities, a bit more "public diplomacy" too, that is more open contacts and propositions made to real moderate Muslims in and outside America (for example launching a global "Muslim Movement for Peace and Modernity" or something). I would take a look at the catalog of leftists' electoral argument and cut the grass under their feet, as we say in French.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.