Author:
Publication: The Patriot Post
Date:
URL: http://patriotpost.us/papers/primer03.asp
"Our war on terror begins with al-Qa'ida,
but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of
global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. ... This war will not be
like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory
and a swift conclusion." --George W. Bush
In the 1990s, with the dissolution of the
Soviet Union, there was a new sense of security in the West, particularly
in the U.S. But the Free World had unwittingly traded the Cold War for the
Long War -- "unwittingly" because after eight years of the Clinton
administration's national security malfeasance, and eight months of the newly
installed Bush administration's effort to reorder national priorities, most
Americans were unaware that a deadly enemy had coalesced in our midst.
That false sense of security terminated abruptly
on 11 September 2001, when one of this enemy's brigades attacked the World
Trade Center -- for the second time. The first WTC attack on 26 February 1993
was treated by the Clinton administration as a "criminal act." Subsequent
attacks by this enemy against a U.S Air Force barracks in Saudi Arabia's Khobar
Towers, our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the USS Cole were also investigated
as criminal acts.
On Clinton's watch, terrorist cells under
the control of Osama bin Laden had settled into several U.S. urban locations.
For two years, they planned and prepared for a catastrophic attack on our
nation. On 9/11 these al-Qa'ida cells emerged and attacked the U.S., murdering
almost three thousand of our citizens and causing more than a hundred billion
dollars in damages and economic losses. U.S. stocks, in fact, lost $1.2 trillion
in value that week.
Fortunately, President George Bush had the
resolve to call this attack what it was -- an "act of war" -- and
respond accordingly. He implemented the Bush Doctrine of Pre-emption, which
proposed that the only way to defend against such an enemy is to respond offensively.
It is a doctrine that must be maintained as long as there are Islamists who
would do us harm.
President Bush told the nation, "This
is a long war, and we have a comprehensive strategy to win it. We're taking
the fight to the terrorists abroad, so we don't have to face them here at
home. We're denying our enemies sanctuary, by making it clear that America
will not tolerate regimes that harbor or support terrorists."
Indeed, it will be a Long War, and his Doctrine
of Pre-emption is the best directive for strategy.
How long? That depends, in part, on how one
defines its origin.
If the war began in 627 AD, five years after
Islam's founding, when Mohammed committed his first genocide against a Jewish
tribe, then the war is an epic and ongoing struggle between Islam and other
religions, especially against Jews and Christians. Which is to say that its
conclusion is not foreseeable. If the war is an extension of the Middle-Age
invasions of the West by rapacious Islam, whether the start date is the victory
of Charles Martel at Tours (732 AD), the back and forth of Crusades (1095-1669)
or defeats like Constantinople (1453 AD), the siege of Vienna (1529 AD), the
fleet at Lepanto (1571 AD), or the gates of Vienna (1683 AD), then the war
is a clash of civilizations which likely has centuries of conflict yet ahead.
But if the war against Jihadistan began, as
The Patriot would suggest, on 11 September 2001, taking into account that
Jihadi attacks on Western targets date back to the 1960s, then it will likely
continue for decades.
"Our generational commitment to the advancement
of freedom, especially in the Middle East, is now being tested and honored
in Iraq," says President Bush. Indeed, it is a "generational commitment"
-- a long war.
Because Jihadistan lacks any central governing
authority (other than the Islamist protagonist of the day -- currently Osama
bin Laden) or any central funding mechanism (other than the Saudi government
and Islamist support groups in the West), its methods are unconventional.
That is to say, it will use the most devastating weapon in its arsenal to
succeed in its objective of destroying "the infidels."
Indeed, given that objective, and past performance,
what's to prevent surrogate terrorists from detonating a nuclear weapon in
a U.S. urban center? Perhaps only a determined and dedicated application of
the Doctrine of Pre-emption as outlined by President Bush. Clearly, there
can be no defeating this enemy without the national will to prosecute a long-term
engagement. In addition, our nation will require a good measure of fortune
- and the continued grace of God.
