perfidy

Terrorists do care about US strategy and actions. Because right now, we are hunting them down. They are on the run, hiding in caves, and fearful that they will be ratted out. They are fearful that a group of US Special Forces like the ones described in GeekLethal’s first post will be knocking on the door of their hideout. The only places where terrorist attacks have happened in the wake of 9/11 are those places where we do not have troops – like Saudi Arabia, where we (hopefully temporarily) left, or Indonesia, or Israel. The most powerful military force in world history is devoted to exterminating terrorists. I think that this fact has made an impact on their thinking, and on their plans.

It will also have an effect on those who might have joined them in more salubrious times. When the uniform result of an attack on America is death and destruction not for America but for the terrorists, all but the most zealous will think twice. And even the most zealous might reconsider their means when 99% of all attempts result in abject failure. The martyr must not merely die for his faith, but he must inflict damage in the process. Continued failure will result in demoralization.

During the recent Gulf War, even Iraqi military strategy assumed the basic goodness and restraint of American forces. They hid behind civilians, knowing that we would not willingly harm civilians. The Iraqi people have witnessed that, and our efforts to rebuild their nation – not merely the damage from our brief bombing campaign, but from decades of neglect. If we are successful in remaking Iraq into a democratic nation – which will require the willing cooperation of the Iraqis, the Islamic world will notice. And the fact of a successful, free, prosperous Arab nation will put immense pressure on other authoritarian and despotic governments.

The proper question to ask is, “does America give a shit what the rest of the world thinks?” We were attacked; and we are, with the assistance of many other nations taking action we see fit to remove the threat. This is a basic right of national sovereignty. While we have taken steps to get the approval of others, we do not require it, any more than France needed UN approval to invade the Ivory Coast.

The cost of our invasion will likely exceed $300 billion dollars. That is less than one year’s expenditure on our military. It is less than three percent of our gross national product for one year. The occupation and eventual departure from Iraq will not bankrupt us, and I cannot conceive of any possible domino effect that would lead from that occupation to any kind of decline. "We didn’t spend the money on drugs for rich old people, Revolution in the streets!" This is, well, extremely unlikely at best.
The dynamism of our economy is intact – despite the recent cyclical recession, we grew at an over than 7% annual rate last quarter. The more mature and nuanced Europeans are still fighting high structural unemployment, low growth rates and stagnant technology. How this will lead to the things Ross fears eludes me.

I am reminded of an essay that PJ O’Rourke wrote, titled “Among the Euro-Weenies.”

Why yes, we do all have guns.

We're the badest-assed sons of bitches that ever jogged in Reeboks. We're three quarters grizzly bear and two-thirds car wreck and descended from a stock market crash on our mother's side. You take your Germany, France and Spain, roll them all together and it wouldn't give us room to park our cars. We're the big boys, Jack, the original, giant, economy-sized new and improved butt kickers of all time. When we snort coke in Houston, people lose their hats in Cap d'Antibes. And we've got an American Express card credit limit higher than your piss-ant metric numbers go.

You say our country's never been invaded? You're right, little buddy. Because I'd like to see the needle-dick foreigners who'd have the guts to try. We drink napalm to get our hearts started in the morning. A rape and a mugging is our way of saying "Cheerio". Hell can't hold our sock hops.

We walk taller, talk louder, spit further, f*ck longer and buy more things than you know the names of. I'd rather be a junkie in a New York City jail than king, queen and jack of all Europeans. We eat little countries like this for breakfast and shit them out before lunch.

The can of whup ass mentality does work in a world where civilization is not universal. Between the US and Canada, or in Europe and Japan, we can discuss things reasonably. There civilization is the order, literally, of the day. Elsewhere, where as you correctly note, there is no end of despots, it is a Hobbesian war of all against all. Europeans make the mistake of assuming that their polite discourse can be extended to this world, or that persuasion and kind words will change the hearts of totalitarian mini-fuehrers.

For those who are not part of civilization there is threat, coercion, and violence. In order to secure the safety of our nation, and not coincidently the safety of the the rest of the civilized world that depends on the American military for safety, we have to be prepared to open that can of whup ass. Sometimes there is no other way. Ten years of sanctions, resolutions and jabber did not end the horrific regime of Saddam Hussein. Bloody compulsion did. It is sadly common for those who are protected to resent those who do the bloody work of protecting.

Terrorists are created not by our actions, but by the failure of their societies. We did not piss them off so much that they decided to kill themselves. They fixate on our success, and figure that we must be preventing them from the riches, power and glory that by right is theirs. When we destroy those who attacked us, we are deterring others. We are demonstrating that is foolhardy in the extreme to bait us. We also demonstrate that we are magnanimous in the aftermath, and that we do not hold grudges, and that we are happy when others join us in prosperity, peace and freedom just as after WWII.

That you describe my foreign policy judgments as WWF smackdowns or NASCAR rallies is condescending not just to me but to the people who watch NASCAR and WWF. They, by and large, understand that if you’re attacked and do nothing, you will be attacked again. And nothing includes talking. Response must not be subtle. Despots are not noted for their grasp of subtlety and nuance. This level of wisdom seems entirely unattainable to much of the left. We used our force and accomplished something good – the removal of Saddam Hussein. Now we are using our unparalled wealth to rebuild that nation. The rest of the world will respect us no more or no less than it always had as a result of this war. Those who are envious or fearful will remain as they are. Those who appreciate that for all our flaws, we do stand for liberty, well they have always been our friends.