The war in Iraq may be drawing to a close, but the war against common sense rages on. For a good summary of everything wrong with the liberal view of the global war against Islamist terrorism, look no further than Rosa Brooks' sloppy Op-Ed column published in the LA Times on December 4.
In this column, Brooks lumps together the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the Virginia Tech rampage, the D.C. Sniper attacks, 9/11, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and the first century Zealots of Judea to make a few asinine points:
- Terrorism has been around for a long time: "Get used to it"
- Disturbed adolescents, crazy ideologues, and international networks of radical Islamists are all pretty much of the same species and can be neutralized with "sober" law enforcement tactics. Military conflicts are unnecessary and, in fact, probably make things worse by "effectively lump[ing] together many different organizations motivated by many different grievances."
- By responding to terrorist attacks with decisive action, were are "lashing out," and this "increases the psychological effectiveness of terrorist tactics."
- Appeasement is the ultimate solution.
Leftists (including Obama & friends) need to be educated to understand that international Islamist terrorism is a unique, serious and deadly problem much like a metastatic cancer.
To treat metastatic cancer, careful efforts to make an accurate diagnosis and to assess the extent of the disease must be followed by an aggressive and individualized treatment regimen. The goal of course is to KILL the cancer and spare the patient.
Similarly, to deal with the problem of international Islamist terrorism, we must identify the problem accurately, continously assess the growth of new terrorist networks, and persue aggressive efforts to target and KILL the terrorists.
Confusing the activities of sophisticated networks of well-funded international Islamist terrorists with the cowardly acts of homegrown sociopathic murders is as dangerous as misdiagnosing a deadly cancer. No problem can be effectively addressed if it is not properly identified.
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4 comments:
Brooks is a buffoon. I almost think he purposefully tries to be more outrageous with each column.
This is a classic example of Sept 10th thinking.
"APPEASEMENT IS THE SOLUTION"? WHAT?
Ya, and giving the islamists money because they're so angry at us, then they'll LIKE US (LOL!)
Great title on your piece here! FOLLY, indeed!!
sometimes, I swear, it's embarrassing to live in LA. I dropped the Times 10 years or so ago. I only miss the crossword puzzle!
This is dangerous thinking. Appeasement does nothing for the bully on the schoolyard and nothing for international terrorists. This is why I was happy that Bush stood up with the caowboy swagger and said "come get some" and pounded his chest. The fact that we had such a difficult time in Iraq with the insurgency shows several things - they are well equiped and trained, that millitary means are required but intelligence BEFOREhand is critical, and that we can't back down before we win. We have to pretend every monment on that front is a "two minutes left in the 4th auarter" moment, and press it.
I had not seen this editorial, thanks for posting it.
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