Is Victory Inevitable?

Submitted by Ed Halper (United States), Sep 12, 2006 at 00:28

Both right and left are united in thinking victory against terrorism is inevitable. That conviction affords the left the leeway it thinks it has.

Destruction is always easier than construction--witness the short time it took for the WTC to collapse vs. the years to build it. The west could be brought to a standstill. Even small numbers of terrorists willing to give up their lives to murder and obstruct the gears through which our free society functions could make life unbearable. We in the west have a low threshold. It would not take a terrible atrocity--just small attacks sustained over time. The Islamists do not think we would really fight, and they may well be right.

We in the US are not likely to unite until we see that this is war we could lose. But as it stands now, nearly everyone thinks that with our superior technology and well-trained military, we must win. Rome was also far superior to the Germanic tribes that overran it. Sadly, we have not learned from history.

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".