A useful flash video presentation of al Qaeda’s attacks in the last decade. Here’s more context for those who still believe we would not be targeted if we never retaliated:
What does all this tell us? First, that if they aren’t blowing us up, then they’ll be blowing up someone else. And you don’t get to choose who. Secondly, who or what they blow up is largely a matter of what’s available. Jews anywhere, Americans after that, Shia next and Brits probably a distant fourth. Africans for fun.
And Australians, Indians, Hindus, Balinese, Saudis, Iraqis, and on and on. We will be bombed and murdered, whatever we do. So why not do all we can to stay on the offensive?
YES, YES, I KNOW: Many reasonable people argue that the Iraq invasion made matters worse, not better in the short term. Let’s concede that, for the sake of argument. But deep down, how do we drain the swamp of Islamo-fascism? For all my criticisms of the conduct of the Iraq war, the reason I’m still glad we did it and still want us to get it right is that I see no fundamental solution to this unless we give the Muslim Arab world an alternative apart from Jihadism or the autocracy that fosters it. Democracy is the only cure; the only way for the silent majority of Muslims to regain power from the fanatics, to undermine this pathology and evil from within. I wrote the following before the London attacks for the Stranger in Seattle and I stand by every word:
The way ahead is undoubtedly brutal and unsure. But let’s not delude ourselves that the alternative was that much better: an Iraq pulverized by still more sanctions, poverty and tyranny or one in which Saddam lived to see another day and gave aid and comfort to al Qaeda. We chose the better of two options. Both were and are still hellish. But this war is young and was always going to last a generation. We owe our government sturdy, even fierce, criticism but we also owe our civilization support. That civilization – one in which people live free from tyranny and suffocating theocracy – is being fought over in Iraq today; and I have not the slightest hesitation in knowing whose side I am on. Our enemy is targeting innocents daily; while we are doing our best to advance their freedom. The Iraqi people told us what they want last January – peace with democracy. We cannot afford to betray either them or our principles now.
So we must fight on. Especially in Iraq, where innocent civilians are experiencing the London bombings on an almost daily basis.
The Dish 