[iwar] [fc:Victory.for.Bin.Laden,.Already?]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-05 19:47:59
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 19:47:59 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Victory.for.Bin.Laden,.Already?]
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                              Mona Charen

                           October 5, 2001
                   Victory for Bin Laden, Already?
Until Oct. 3, the Bush administration had achieved nearly perfect
pitch in the war against terror. Along with Prime Minister Tony Blair,
President Bush had captured, in word and deed, the magnitude of the
life or death struggle we now face against Islamo-fascism.
Bush promised in his speech before Congress that in fighting terror he
would not "tire," he would not "falter," he would not "fail." He has
faltered already.
By saying now -- (SET ITAL) now (END ITAL) -- that the United States
supports the idea of a Palestinian state is to reward our enemies.
Isn't that obvious? How do they suppose this change in American policy
-- no administration has formally declared itself for a Palestinian
state -- will be greeted by the Islamists? Simple. It's success.
Slaughter 7,000 Americans, and get an immediate change in foreign
policy.
Arafat's confederates have attacked the heart of the United States.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, Al Qaeda --
they are all of a piece. They are all Islamic homicidal criminals, and
they are all welcome in the Palestinian controlled areas. Arafat
himself has engaged in a year-long series of terror attacks against
Israel (the only nation to declare a day of mourning on our behalf),
exactly like that bin Laden sent against us.
Americans hear only about the suicide bombers who succeed in Israel.
But almost weekly, Israelis hear of attempts being thwarted. They have
been bombed in shopping malls and cafes, on the streets and in their
homes. A baby girl was shot as she played in her father's arms. And a
suicide bomber aimed for and killed whole families when he detonated
his load in a Jerusalem pizzeria.
Further, Arafat has preached jihad ceaselessly, while offering the
territory he controls as a training ground for the most vile
murderers. He calls them "martyrs." He has so poisoned the minds of
his people with anti-Israeli and anti-American propaganda that the
Palestinians danced in the streets when they heard of the Sept. 11
atrocity. (Palestinians celebrated in several cities, and the AP
filmed a demonstration of about 4,000 in Nablus. But that film was
never aired because the Palestinian Authority threatened AP that "they
could not guarantee the life of the photographer" if the film were
broadcast.) Seventy-five percent of the Palestinian population
approves of suicide bombings.
And for this, Arafat is to be rewarded with a change in American
policy in his favor? Osama bin Laden, too, is eager for a change in
U.S. policy toward Israel. Even if all the arguments for supporting
Israel were wrong, that fact alone would be reason enough not to do
what the Bush administration has done.
The weak-minded, and this very much includes the U.S. State
Department, say, "We must stop the cycle of violence." One would have
thought, after Sept. 11, that we would hear that pathetic bleat no
longer. In point of fact, the Israelis have been restrained in their
responses. But respond they must, no less than we.
It is likely that Bush and Powell are hoping to pacify our "moderate"
Arab allies with talk of a Palestinian state. But Jordan, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and a few other regimes were already lined up. They are even
more vulnerable, for a whole series of reasons starting with their
regimes' inherent illegitimacy, than we to the terrorist threat. Now
is the time for the United States to demonstrate clear and implacable
leadership, not "sensitivity" to the ferocious hatreds these Arab
regimes have often helped stoke. And before this struggle is over, it
is the Arab regimes, not Israel, who should feel the sting of American
"pressure" to change their policies -- to liberalize, to democratize
and to institute the rule of law.
In Nablus, a Palestinian town on the West Bank, there is now a museum
dedicated to the Sbarro pizzeria bombing. Palestinian tourists line up
to see a mock-up of the restaurant as it looked minutes after the
explosion -- blood on the walls and floor, body parts scattered on
tables and chairs.
The people who built that museum have won a victory. But it is not
just Israel that has suffered a blow. It is we, and the cause that
until a few days ago seemed so clear.
Contact Mona Charen :
<a href="http://www.creators.com/opinion_writetheauthor.cfm?pg=write&columnsname=mch">http://www.creators.com/opinion_writetheauthor.cfm?pg=write&columnsname=mch>

Š2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

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