Poking a stick in the hornets' nest

Submitted by Tom Cox (United States), Aug 20, 2002 at 11:10

Dr. Pipes,

While I agree with your assessment of the danger posed by Saddam Hussein, I remember taking out a hornets' nest in my garage last spring.

To get a clear shot at the nest with the insecticide spray, I had to close the door that was my only means of escape. If the spray had not been immediately lethal, I would have had to pass close to the nest to get out of the garage. Fortunately, the spray immediately disabled the hornets, instead of just making them really aggressive as they were dying.

What assurance do we have that the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction won't be unleashed on Israel in a dying spasm of revenge? We can also reasonably expect counter-strikes from the Islamists worldwide, including the groups Saddam would gladly have murdered in their beds if it served his political goals. Are we ready for such attacks? Our borders are geographical abstractions, and our ports are gaping holes that can't hope to keep tens of thousands of armed terrorists from flooding in and causing havoc.

Shouldn't we seal our borders and be sure that we can suppress any Iraqi counter-strike, before we attack this particular hornets' nest?

Thanks,
Tom Cox
Muncie, IN

---

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 and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".