People I trust close to the administration tell me not to fret about any loss of momentum or resolve in the war on terrorism. I believe them. But I hope president Bush makes clear in his State of the Union address that we are as yet only at the end of the beginning of this war. The “loose ends” in Afghanistan, as the New York Times calls them today, are more than that. Those loose ends are the al Qaeda leadership, the rogue Pakistani intelligence services, and even some less than disciplined authorities in Kandahar. Until these loose ends are firmly tied, we should be wary of moving on too precipitously. I see no problem with focusing next on Somalia, the Philippines, or Yemen. There are also practical reasons for a lull – replenishing armaments, rotating troops, managing the Pakistani-India stand-off. But we cannot delay Iraq or Iran indefinitely. I linked yesterday to a Yossi Klein Halevi piece on the growing Iranian threat. Today’s Safire column about the Iranian money behind the PLO’s latest shipment of weaponry adds urgency to the endeavor. The simultaneous appearance of Reza Pahlavi’s op-ed in the Washington Post today suggests a sea-change in elite opinion is underway. At the very least, we should now step up rhetorical and financial aid to the opposition movements in both countries. We know one thing: we will never be safe until the current regimes in Baghdad and Tehran are destroyed. What Bush should know is that mere reactive efforts – the Clinton strategy – are less than worthless. We must take the war to the enemies of civilization just as relentlessly as they have taken the war to us and our democratic allies. And we must keep surprising.
WHO KILLED BUDDY?: Inquiring minds demand to know.
THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH: Victor Davis Hanson doesn’t mince words in this expansive essay in the new City Journal:
“If Israel did not exist, the Arab world, in its current fit of denial, would have to invent something like it to vent its frustrations. That is not to say there may not be legitimate concerns in the struggle over Palestine, but merely that for millions of Muslims the fight over such small real estate stems from a deep psychological wound. It isn’t about lebensraum or some actual physical threat. Israel is a constant reminder that it is a nation’s culture-not its geography or size or magnitude of its oil reserves-that determines its wealth or freedom. For the Middle East to make peace with Israel would be to declare war on itself, to admit that that its own fundamental way of doing business-not the Jews-makes it poor, sick, and weak.”
The rest of the essay, “Why The Muslims Misjudged Us,” is just as robust. What’s particularly refreshing is the strength of Hanson’s serene faith in the superiority of Western democratic culture. It is not somehow racist or condescending to believe in the universal validity of democratic principles, or to see the struggle between those principles and tyranny as a constant theme in world history. And the attempt to redescribe such faith as somehow evil or suspect – whether on the far right or the post-modern left – is a central part of what has gone wrong in our culture, and what we are now, thankfully, putting right.
WHAT THE E.U. IS ALL ABOUT: Forget the common currency. Here’s at least part of what makes the European Union what it actually is. It’s a story about E.U. regulations on when a “sauce” becomes a “vegetable.” Apparently, the growing popularity in Europe of chunky sauces has caused panic among the control freaks and tariff-mongers in the Brussels bureaucracy, so they’re raising the “lump” limit for sauces. If they can’t define something, it can’t be regulated, protected from foreign competition or vetted for legal trade. So you end up with hilarious lump-splitting like this. And you wonder why the sensible Brits are a little leery?
YVES SAINT RUG?: Here’s a question: what credibility can a fashion genius have when he has hair like this. Maybe it’s a rug. That might even be reassuring. But the guy looks like Steve Allen with his finger in a socket.
DRUDGE VERSUS KONNER: Nice catch, Matt. Anyone in journalism has long known that Joan Konner, former head of the Columbia School of Journalism, is a case-study in leftist media bias. Touting herself as independent, she is, in fact, a big donor to left-feminist groups, like Emily’s List, and can barely contain her disdain for non-leftist media. Thus Fox news is biased, but CBS is a model of neutrality. Puh-leeze. She makes Tom Shales look like a fount of reason.
BLOGGER DOWN: My apologies for sporadic posting. I rely on Blogger, a free and wonderful service, that appears to be in a moderate meltdown right now. I haven’t been able to post all day. If you’re reading this, I got lucky.
SPEAKING OF ORIENTALISM: A reader recommends this takedown of Edward Said from the New Criterion a while back.
The Dish 