In the days following the mass murders on Sept. 11, the networks interviewed a large number of people and their comments were mostly aimed at propping up morale and vowing that the U.S. would bring the perpetrators to sure if not swift justice. Out of all this lip-service there was one commentator on CNN, and perhaps other networks, that really told it like it is and will be from here on. That was Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister of Israel and eminently qualified to discuss terrorism.
He went right to the point of the matter and said that beginning on Sept. 11, the free and civilized world has a small window of opportunity for survival against the religious fanatic terrorists who have risen to challenge for domination of the world. They have zero tolerance and must either win or die trying. Mr. Netanyahu’s view is that, for now, the terrorists have the suicidal will to win but do not have the technological power to bring the civilized world down to heel. But they are close, as evidenced by their ingenuity in using our own Western technology to inflict the horror and destruction of Sept. 11. We, and our allies, have the technological power now to win this war but do not yet have the will and all-out resolve to totally commit to eradication of every vestige of terrorism.
In time, and it may be a relatively short time, the terrorist movement will eventually be able to accomplish delivery of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons that will be capable of destroying entire cities at will and bring us to our knees. I respect Mr. Netanyahu’s opinion that, when the Osama bin Laden types have both the will and the power, they will unleash them on any opposition in the blink of an eye and without a second of thought. If that happens, the civilized world will have no effective defense and we lose – they win.
Mr. Netanyahu is the only person I have heard who recognized this, even before Sept. 11, as a life-and-death struggle in which we, the civilized world, must be absolutely ruthless in stamping out worldwide terrorism down through its roots now or face being driven back to the Stone Age. But, it is going to cost us a lot of our freedoms along the way in order to salvage as many as possible. It’s a terrible price to pay but infinitely better than the alternative.
Let’s pull out all the stops and go for it.
Mountlake Terrace
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