Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Yes, It Is A War
A couple of weeks ago I said, "...the American people in particular, and Western civilization as a whole, must develop a clear, firm understanding that we are at war. ... We must call those who oppose us what they are - our enemies."
I'm relieved to know that I make as much sense as someone as smart as Michael J. Totten.
Yesterday he wrote, "We are at war with Islamists. Why? Because they declared war on us. It isn't any more complicated than that. It takes two to make peace. But it only takes one to declare and make war. We're at war with these people whether we like it or not. They declared it. They did not consult us in advance. We are not allowed to unilaterally declare the end of the war just because we don't want to fight it. That's not how it works. They will keep fighting and it will go on and on no matter how much we wish it weren't so. They must also tire of fighting before peace is an option."
Totten also refers to an article written by Paul Berman in The American Prospect back in October, 2001. Some excerpts from that article that I particularly agree with: "There is an impulse to describe our enemy as a mere handful of people, perhaps a few dozen--far too small a number to merit the kind of opposition that could be called a war. How reassuring that would be--to learn that our enemy has the dimensions of a small street gang! ... But we are facing a substantial and well-organized enemy. Our enemy is the combat wing of radical and Islamist movements that are genuinely enormous.
"There is a great deal of liberal and left-wing naivete about this matter in the United States, and not just there. But there is also a conservative and right-wing naivete, which may be still greater and is much graver in its possible consequences.
"The genuine solution to these attacks can come about in only one way, which is by following the same course we pursued against the Fascist Axis and the Stalinists. The Arab radical and Islamist movements have to be, in some fashion or other, crushed. Or else they have to be tamed into something civilized and acceptable, the way that some of the old Stalinist parties have agreed to shrink into normal political organizations of a democratic sort."
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, "We are at war!" Until we accept and embrace that simple fact we will never win this war. We must put our individual minds and our national consciousness on a war footing. We must identify and target our enemies and we must steel ourselves to their swift and certain destruction. It is, literally, us or them. ¶ Wednesday, August 03, 2005
I'm relieved to know that I make as much sense as someone as smart as Michael J. Totten.
Yesterday he wrote, "We are at war with Islamists. Why? Because they declared war on us. It isn't any more complicated than that. It takes two to make peace. But it only takes one to declare and make war. We're at war with these people whether we like it or not. They declared it. They did not consult us in advance. We are not allowed to unilaterally declare the end of the war just because we don't want to fight it. That's not how it works. They will keep fighting and it will go on and on no matter how much we wish it weren't so. They must also tire of fighting before peace is an option."
Totten also refers to an article written by Paul Berman in The American Prospect back in October, 2001. Some excerpts from that article that I particularly agree with: "There is an impulse to describe our enemy as a mere handful of people, perhaps a few dozen--far too small a number to merit the kind of opposition that could be called a war. How reassuring that would be--to learn that our enemy has the dimensions of a small street gang! ... But we are facing a substantial and well-organized enemy. Our enemy is the combat wing of radical and Islamist movements that are genuinely enormous.
"There is a great deal of liberal and left-wing naivete about this matter in the United States, and not just there. But there is also a conservative and right-wing naivete, which may be still greater and is much graver in its possible consequences.
"The genuine solution to these attacks can come about in only one way, which is by following the same course we pursued against the Fascist Axis and the Stalinists. The Arab radical and Islamist movements have to be, in some fashion or other, crushed. Or else they have to be tamed into something civilized and acceptable, the way that some of the old Stalinist parties have agreed to shrink into normal political organizations of a democratic sort."
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, "We are at war!" Until we accept and embrace that simple fact we will never win this war. We must put our individual minds and our national consciousness on a war footing. We must identify and target our enemies and we must steel ourselves to their swift and certain destruction. It is, literally, us or them. ¶ Wednesday, August 03, 2005
