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Thread: Weekend Commentary time again ... London attacks

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    Default Weekend Commentary time again ... London attacks

    "Now is not the time to abandon the war on terror
    Ak'Bar A. Shabazz

    July 7, 2005

    The recent bombing in London’s Russell Square should finally prove that the world needs to be more vigilant in the War on Terror. Obviously, it is too early to gauge the British resolve or reaction to the bombing. But, it would be in their best interest, as well as the entire world if they did not impersonate their European brethren and persisted in actively resisting the efforts of the terrorists.

    The brutal attack on the innocent citizens of London as they traveled to work on trains and buses shows the level of ruthlessness of the attackers. It should instill a measure of determination in their leaders and the population in general. These criminals have shown their blatant disregard for human life by their willingness to target women, children, the elderly and other civilians in their quest to intimidate the world into their manner of thinking.

    Similar to the Spanish reaction, many will look at the cost in lives and resources and suggest abandoning the War on Terror. These suggestions are terribly misguided and very near-sighted. If you noticed a hive of hornets gathering in your backyard, would you turn a blind eye and cower in your home for fear of being stung? Or would you accept the potential of a few stings and proceed to eliminate the threat because of the severe ramifications of allowing them to congregate and operate freely? Our plight is very similar.

    Many liberal politicians and their counterparts in the media seem to be more determined to oppose President Bush’s judicial nominations than terrorists who would like to bring harm to our country and the world in general. The incident in London should bring their political motivations to rest and support our President as he defends our country in this global war.

    As a Muslim since birth, I am frequently appalled at the levels of ignorance that some of our legislators have in this area. Their suggestions of abandoning Iraq and diminishing the War on Terror only encourage and embolden those that want to cause us harm, while reducing resistance movements within their countries. Contrary to popular belief in some circles, these people are driven by their twisted and fanatical ideology than their religious convictions. They are no respecters of age, sex, race or religion. They will kill their own countryman as quickly as they will anyone living in the most disputed parts of Israel. They have shown that they will blow up mosques as eagerly as they will destroy synagogues and churches. They will attempt to destroy anything and anyone that disagrees with their philosophy and actions, this writer included.

    The recent bombings should encourage our country as well as the rest of the world to be more adamant about erasing terrorism. We only have two options. We can either fight them tenaciously, or choose to live under the constant expectation of a bombing. There is no middle ground. Increased diligence will weaken our opponents. A reduced level of diligence will encourage them.

    The loss of innocent life affects us all. The pictures from London’s aftermath have brought back memories of our own brush with these terrorists. The scene is very familiar to American citizens as well as residents of Israel, Spain and today’s Iraq. This incident should put starch in the spines of all of those who have doubted the importance of reclaiming peace and security in our time by winning the War on Terror.

    This task will not be a simple one. Our enemies will not go down easily and there will still be domestic and international naysayers that will encourage us to abandon ship in Iraq and Afghanistan while lowering our posture towards Iran and North Korea. As leaders of the free world, we must not allow the pessimists to reduce our determination. Otherwise, we’ll have more than a few hornet stings to deal with."

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    Default Re: Weekend Commentary time again ... London attacks

    "London calling
    Rich Lowry (archive)

    July 8, 2005

    It's a war. Whenever we begin to forget that, we get a horrific reminder.

    This summer the air palpably began to leave the war on terror. In the U.S., media coverage gravitated to shark attacks and missing girls — just as it had prior to Sept. 11. The world, at least that portion of it represented by the G-8 summit, had focused its attention on self-flagellating debates about who is and who is not providing enough humanitarian aid to Africa.

    We had "moved on," or at least were trying to. But just as President Bush had hoped to move on from Iraq to domestic issues after the successful Jan. 30 elections, only to learn that a live shooting war cannot be ignored, so it is that the larger struggle with al Qaeda and its affiliates cannot be ignored either, because it too is a live shooting war. British Prime Minister Tony Blair's efforts to placate Bono and friends on global poverty look faintly ridiculous now that the London attacks have laid bare what should be his chief duty and that of other Western leaders — protecting the public from slaughter.

    We are facing a global insurgency of Islamic militants who will hit anywhere, from Mosul to London. Their goal is totalist. They want, first, to drive us from the Middle East, then, to establish a caliphate there, and finally, to absorb the West into their theocracy. If this seems absurd, well, fanatical murderers are not usually known for their finely modulated objectives.

    Critics of Bush and Blair argue that the Iraq war has nothing to do with the war on terror. But the terrorists have always known better. They realize that Arab radicalism's loss of Iraq and the establishment in Baghdad of a decent, stable, antiterrorist state would be a grave ideological blow. So it is probably no accident that two of the most high-profile terror attacks since 9/11 have been directed at Spain and Britain, whose leaders stood with Bush in a key meeting at the Azores islands in Portugal in March 2003 to give Saddam Hussein one of his last ultimatums.

    The Spanish cut and ran from Iraq after the Madrid train bombings in 2004, hoping to take the target off their back, but painting one all the larger on the backs of any countries supporting the fight against extremism in Iraq. The Brits, having suffered much worse during the Blitz and the height of the IRA bombing campaign in the 1970s, won't surrender so easily.

    In this war someone can be on the front lines whether he is on a bus in Tavistock Square or on a U.S. Army helicopter in Jalalabad. Unfortunately, there are limits to how much can be done to protect the home front, which is why it is preferable to try to kill terrorists and sap them of their ideological energy overseas. Commercial aviation appears pretty well locked down in the West — or so one hopes — but mass transit, with its multitude of access points and its countless fast-moving passengers, is impossible to secure in a similar fashion.

    Americans can take some cold comfort in the fact that al Qaeda surely would prefer to hit here in the States, but seemingly can't manage it. Such an attack, of course, could take place tomorrow. But that it hasn't yet is probably some testament to the efficacy of the Patriot Act, the immediate detention of hundreds of Muslim immigration violators after 9/11 (most, no doubt, innocent of any evil intention, but perhaps a crucial handful not), and tighter border control in general. Britain passed a new Prevention of Terrorism Bill only in March and, like most European countries, has relatively lax immigration and asylum policies.

    Of course, all of these antiterror initiatives in the U.S. have been criticized by the ACLU and the usual suspects on the left. What they don't acknowledge is what we've been reminded of yet again — it's a war"

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