Our Weakness and Our Strength
We are hurting ourselves by trying to diminish our president. If this action or other actions were well prepared or well done is arguable among us, but exposing our weakness is giving an enormous advantage to our enemy who is watching and testing our resolve. It is very difficult to walk the fine line as not to damage our freedom and our democracy. It must be also clear to our people, Democrats or Republicans alike, that the Al Qaida is taking its information and its strength from our arguments and our freedom. Already, the Europeans are starting to misread our resolve. They are trying to put a wedge between the two parties. I am confident that the change of party in Spain is not the result of the terrorists’ action in Madrid, but many European leaders are already interpreting the Spanish election as the result of the terrorist action. Many are blaming the Americans and the British for the Madrid massacre. The Islamic movement believes that the Spanish election was the beginning of the Occident’s capitulation; they believe that a few other actions like this would lead the European countries to surrender and create a misunderstanding between Europe and the United States.
It must be clear to all Americans that the Islamic movement wants nothing less than the destruction of our democratic system and values. The fall of Saddam Hussein and the progress in Iraq is the most threatening action for the Al Qaida. Our operations in Iraq are regarded as the defeat of Islamic values. Now it is the time for our Moslem Americans to express their opposition to this philosophy of massacre. To show to the Moslems of the world that democracy is not the enemy of Islam and that the Moslem Americans are strongly opposed to any terror.
It is not the time to point the finger to the president, if he should put less or more soldiers in Iraq. Those who say that the attack on Iraq has increased terrorism in the world and that today we are less secure than before Iraq, are missing the point. After 9/11 should we have chosen to doubt about the intention of the terrorism? Facing the Al Qaida threat, should we have backed-off? Do we need another Chamberlain appeasement? The war on terrorism will be precisely won or lost in Iraq and not in Afghanistan as many are saying. An American defeat in Iraq would be understood by the Arab masses as a victory of Islam and the Al Qaida would exploit this to lead the entire Arab world which is still dreaming about Caliphate-like conquests because it was humiliated and still hopes for a revenge. Does the Moslem world understand the meaning of a totalitarian regime that an Al Qaida victory would bring about for them?
Do the Americans understand the meaning of a democratic Iraq? The Arab news would be beamed from Baghdad and not from the Al Jazzira station. In Arab history, Baghdad has more weight for the Arab culture than Al Jazzira. If the democracy succeeds, the universities of Baghdad would attract millions of Moslems to learn about freedom and democracy.
Sooner or later we may have to applaud our president and his teams for recognizing the danger that Iraq presented for us. If the WMD could not be found is irrelevant for the moment as everyone knows that Saddam Hussein used chemicals against his people. Does anyone know for sure that the WMD are not hidden somewhere100 feet deep in the vast desert of Iraq or Syria? Let our leader be a political leader and the generals conduct the war as they understand.
This war will last longer than any war. Remember the hundred year war between France and Great Britain; remember the wars between France and Germany. We should also remember that this war is not a war as we have known it until now, but a war between the Shaariya system (the law of the Koran) and the democratic system.
