By Jay D. Homnick on 7.13.05 @ 12:06AM
Why -- and what -- terrorists always win.
The explosions in London this past week, which seem to have
killed about a hundred innocent civilians, have caused damage far
in excess of the body count. They have shown a path to victory for
the terrorists. At least such victory as can ever be achieved by
non-sovereign forces.
The good news is that they are not likely to see it that way. As
Abba Eban famously said about the Palestinians, "They never miss a
chance to miss a chance." This new breed of Arabists, who have
forsaken nationalism for a gruesome and bloodthirsty version of
sainthood, are hardly noted for their pragmatic handle on reality.
Only their own unwise, if somewhat predictable, overreaching can
save us now. But perhaps a clear head would serve us better in such
a moment; let's take a deep breath and start at the beginning.
It is a self-evident truth that the terrorists cannot defeat the
great nations of the world. As long as war and victory are defined
in classical terms, the battle of civilization versus terrorism
could be won by one garrison of men armed with fly swatters. A
roving band of bombers is not an army. In smaller countries, a few
guns can sometimes enable guerrillas or mercenaries to hold some
rural territory. Not so in your G-8 type industrialized nations.
Surely no one expects that al Qaeda will suddenly conquer
Shropshire-on-the-Bramble or Codger Bluffs, Idaho.
Even the scenario that so captivates pundits and policymakers,
where a rogue nuclear nation donates a spare nuke to the terrorist
cause, is fanciful at best. We all read The Mouse That
Roared as kids and the image of a gang of eccentrics with a
"Q-Bomb" bringing Uncle Sam down off his stilts, if not quite to
his knees, was not without some grudging romance. And if guys at
Langley want to draw up contingency plans against such an
eventuality, tax money well spent. Still, sovereign nations, even
those given to roguery, tend to be control freaks about weaponry of
that caliber. They will give popguns and explosives to independent
contractors, not their nuclear arsenal.
However, just as terrorism redefines war, it can redefine
victory. There is no need to defeat the West, but it can be
stripped of its defining characteristic: freedom. It can be
badgered and harassed and browbeaten until it becomes completely
consumed by the politics of paranoia. If our country and its peers
turn into fretful fortresses, we will be trapped into a barricaded
insularity that will wilt our very souls. We will pay a high price
in creativity and productivity. Victory will be ours, but only by a
technical knockout; there will be no dominance and little
pride.
Those bombs in London were simple devices, unsophisticated in
their destructiveness, a bull in our urban china shop. They point
up the tragic fact that no great technical marvels are required to
make us bleed. There is no need for dramatic scenery like the World
Trade Center anymore. Global television and the Internet guarantee
instant worldwide coverage anyway. Just think of what would happen
if tomorrow a small follow-up bomb would get a few people on a
London bus, then two days later another few in a crowded mall.
Suddenly England would be Israel, fighting a shadowy and invisible
enemy that can never really win but can all too often deliver
stinging reminders of his presence. There is something to fear:
fear itself.
No one is more effective against terrorism than Israel. All
nations turn to it as a model and often send their men to be
trained in the Holy Land by hard-bitten veterans of the endless
clash. Yet no one can honestly deny that terrorism has eroded the
Israeli national spirit. It is still a fabulous, plucky state
brimming with innovation and ambition, but the citizens feel
acutely the isolation conveyed by the spectacle of near-empty and
bankrupted hotels.
The same can happen to London and Paris. All it takes is a
relatively small bomb here and there, say one every two weeks. The
patterns of life and love and commerce would be altered beyond
recognition within a few months. Think back to the snipers riding
around Washington, D.C., in a beat-up old jalopy, often too broke
for a motel room, yet forcing an entire major region of the most
powerful nation in the world into cowering behind their fences,
scurrying home at night and huddling indoors.
Fortunately for us, these vicious little people are still, to
quote Disraeli about his opponents, "intoxicated by the exuberance
of their verbosity." They still have grandiose visions of
triumphing in some titanic clash of civilizations and getting
Madonna into a burqha. Let us pray that they keep saving up for the
Big One and that we can succeed in thwarting those plans. If they
ever settle for the role of permanent pest, truthfully we have no
solution.
topics:
Trade, Television, Israel
