Freedom's Fidelity

Monday, August 04, 2003

David Bernstein over at the The Volokh Conspiracy makes a good point commenting on the importance of proactive antiterrorism

In June, Fatah power broker Marwan Barghouti wrote a note from his Israeli jail cell to Khaled Mashal, Hamas's negotiator in Damascus, urging a cease-fire with Israel. Barghouti, who despite being on trial for the murder of 26 Israelis, passes for a "moderate" in the lethal caldron of Palestinian politics, observed that since the September 11 attacks, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other events, "have destroyed countries and movements." The Islamic militants risked the same fate, Barghouti warned.


These mostly overlooked yet critical five words — "have destroyed countries and movements" — vindicate the Bush-Blair anti-terrorism strategy, as well as Prime Minister Sharon's proactive approach to Palestinian terrorism. As the American army searches for enough weapons of mass destruction to justify anti-war critics, while the media harps on 16 words which may have been inaccurate during the verbal avalanche preceding the war, these five words prove that three decades of Western appeasement have ended — and the message is resonating in Damascus, Ramallah, Tehran and Baghdad, if not yet in London, New York and northern Tel Aviv.

I'm still a skeptic when it comes to the current "road map" to peace, but this is certainly good news and does hammer home the point that appeasing (or rewarding) terrorism only encourages terrorism.

posted by Paul  permalink | |