According to AOL News, a video posted Tuesday on an Islamic militant Web site showed the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq, and said the execution was carried out by an al-Qaida affiliated group to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.
To avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners? Are we supposed to believe that al-Qaida would NOT do this kind of thing unless some of our soldiers had abused Iraqi prisoners? That they’re basically reasonable souls who only do such outrageous things when provoked? This is incredible.
What we have in Iraq–illustrated in horrifyingly grotesque reality via this beheading–is the meeting of turn-the-other-cheek American humility with the raw, uncompromising brute force of Islam. Islamists are winning, not because it’s rational or just but because Muslim fanatics will do with their limited means what we refuse to do with our unlimited means.
Militant Islam is willing to be consistent in its irrationality. The United States of America is not yet willing to be consistent in the fight for freedom. We capture Saddam Hussein, then we apologize for it by giving him a fair, independent “trail,” something that would never have been granted a Hitler. We vow to fight a war, and we all know that war is sometimes dirty; but then we spend endless hours apologizing for the reality that sometimes war is not pretty.
Sooner or later, weapons of mass destruction will be used. They will either be used against Americans, on American soil, or against terrorists and their sympathizers, on their soil. Innocent people will die either way. This is not the fault of those who defend freedom. This is the fault of those who oppose it. Much worse war than what we have seen so far is a certainty. Since 9/11, my vote has been to get the terrorists before they come to us. George W. Bush is failing at this task despite his repeated and stated intentions. John Kerry would do even less.
Who can we count on?
Ultimately, I hope the majority of the American people. Once they realize the stakes, the Bushes and the Kerrys will be off the political radar screen, and we can really start to do a war against terrorism right. This is our only hope. Don’t give up. The answer lies in ourselves, not our present leaders. There will be more losses to come, including many unnecessary ones, but in the end we can still win.
