Finally, A Link Between Iraq and Terrorism

Gene Healy wonders whether we have already won against Al-Qaeda:

Consider Malvo and Muhammed. Two none-too-bright jokers with a $300 rifle and no formal training repeatedly shut down the Beltway and terrorized Greater Washington for almost a month. If America really is riddled with sleeper cells, why not activate another 20 guys? Ten two-man-shooter teams, two or three different cities, months before they’re all caught —- the disruption and terror it would sow would be enormous. As on September 11, America would be full of fear from its north to its south to its west to its east. If I can figure this out, so can they. So what gives?

Maybe (shhhhh) —- maybe there aren’t that many of them. Maybe they’re not nearly as rich in suicidal maniacs as Hamas and the Al-Asqa brigades. Maybe we’ve killed a good portion of them, and put a good bit more on the run. Maybe —- just maybe —- we’ve won.

Then, he speculates that war against Iraq might increase the hatred of Arabs against us and as a result the number of terrorists:

None of that is to downplay the threat that Al Qaeda could represent, if we handle this struggle as foolishly as I fear we might. In this much, Brink is surely right: a free society is vulnerable at an incalculable number of points. And therefore, as Robert Wright has pointed out: it matters greatly whether there are 100 Richard Reids, or 10,000 of them.

A hundred Richard Reids means an occasional terrorist gets lucky. It’s a background risk we factor into what we do, and then largely forget about. But 10,000 Richard Reids means America becomes more like Israel, more like the greater Washington DC area for those weeks in October when the snipers ran free. Ten thousand Richard Reids means that every time you kiss your wife and kids goodbye, the thought crosses your mind: “will I see them again?”

We may have won this round, but we can still lose. We can lose by fighting this war so as to multiply the number of Richard Reids.

I’m continually amazed and annoyed by ideological compatriots who understand the Laffer Curve and buy into rational choice theory and yet stubbornly, myopically insist on a static theory of terrorist recruitment. “They’re crazy, and they hate us.” Yes, but won’t certain policies create more of them? Like, if we conquer Iraq, take over its oil fields, forcefully suppress ethnic separatism, and use the country as a staging point to bring about regime change in Iran and Syria, won’t that create more of them? “No, they’ve got all the reasons they need to hate us. Did I mention that they’re crazy?”

Go read his whole post.

By Zack

Dad, gadget guy, bookworm, political animal, global nomad, cyclist, hiker, tennis player, photographer

7 comments

  1. Check out the comments section, esp. about the impact of gvt laws on “real americans” vs. “immigrants”.

    I posted a response — perhaps a little too heated (I have a tendency that way). This stuff, like far too many things I read on blogs, pisses me off.

  2. Hee hee.

    The web serves as a bit of an outlet for daily frustrations.

    I did try to Gene give some value added in a more recent post. He’s got a good blog. Humorous.

  3. If I did that, who would comment on all the other blogs? (And I have seen your plaintive cries for comments on the niqabi blog )

  4. I think 1st Lt. Mark V. Shaney USMC said it best when he said:

    “…this is not defined as an absence of war. It is the presence of liberty, stability, and prosperity. In the face of the enemy. Don’t buy into the pessimism and apathy that says, “It’s hopeless,” “They hate us too much,” “That part of the men and women serving here in Iraq the enemy wherever you are. You are a mighty force for good, because truth is on your side. Together we will ultimately fail. That is why I am asking for your support. Become a voice of truth in your community. Wherever you are fight the lies of the men and women serving here in Iraq the enemy wherever you are. You are the soldiers at home fighting the war of perception with the media and American people. Our enemy has learned that the people in the highest regard. We love to criticize ourselves almost to an endless degree, because we care what others think. “

    Raymond Onar
    And as always: “Quidquid excusatio prandium pro!

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