The American Spectator

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Special Report

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STILL, IT IS NOT ENOUGH to say glorify life; there are specific measures that must be taken to thwart possible terrorist acts in our nation. The wall of separation erected between law enforcement and national security agents must be shattered. Human intelligence assets -- emasculated by the Church Commission -- should be restored. Spying is a nasty, but necessary, business in a world as dangerous as ours.

Similarly, preemption is a critical feature of prevention. We must use every legal, i.e. constitutional, means at our disposal to undermine terrorist cells. We should encourage the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) to deport non-citizens who foster violent activity. It is noteworthy that more than 80 percent of mosques preach anti-American dogma and some actively promote terrorism, according to Steve Emerson's recent studies.

And last, despite a reluctance to consider profiling -- understandable since racial and ethnic differentiation is appropriately frowned upon -- it should be noted that 80 year old grandmothers from Des Moines haven't been identified as terrorist "sleepers." Yet remarkably they are often treated in the same fashion at airports as those carrying Saudi Arabian passports. This defies common sense and introduces a degree of unnecessary risk.

In many respects the radical Islamic response to modernity is like the Hieronymus Bosch painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights," which depicts a hell of obscurity and insanity, a world without reason or hope. Either the world submits to Islam, or the world is turned into the hell of destruction. In radical Islam religion is "flesh and blood" and unless one submits, death is the only recourse. Hence a persistent refusal to use power against this threat must be overcome. We don't need martyrs to survive, but we do need vigilance, intelligence and legal mechanisms that realistically recognize the threat we are now facing.

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