الامـ صقر ـارات

Time to face Mecca
By Reuven Koret September 14, 2001

The destruction of the World Trade Center complex and the assault on the Pentagon, symbols of American economic and military power, and the cowardly massacre of the innocents within, is an act singular in its horror. An even greater danger is that it will become a precedent, an inspiration for future outrages. Within months or years, if not now, the fundamental Islamic states and terror groups will have at their disposal nuclear weapons to complement their existing stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. As the abomination in New York proves, they will not hesitate to use genocide as a policy.
The sight of airline passengers being forced to empty the toiletry kits of razor blades, of Congressmen and Senators evacuated from the Capitol, the President and Vice President being whisked away to bunkers-all these are bad enough. But the prospect of this climate of terror continuing is totally intolerable, and demands a new strategy of deterrence calculated to stop the momentum of radical Islam that is threatening the free world. The Islamic fanatics have declared Jihad - holy war - against the West. An appropriate and immediate response is imperative.

The World Trade Center and the Pentagon were chosen by the enemies of Western Civilization because of their import as symbols of our society. Their destruction is designed to create a negative space in the souls of Americans and all democracies, to undermine our confidence in our strength. Next in line, if the Jihadists have their way, will be the White House, the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Kremlin. All are at immediate risk, everyone knows it, and the inspired followers of radical Islam have had their appetites opened.

The West must find effective ways to deter the Jihadists. We must do so by understanding and answering them in terms of their value system, not ours. Will it do anyone any good to bomb the airport of Kabul, or the military bases of the Taliban? Been there, done that. The concentrated efforts of the Western World did not bring Saddam Hussein to his knees. George Bush Senior failed, and George Bush Junior will be scorned if that is his main approach.

Let us be clear: all Moslems are not to blame for the evil of some of their coreligionists. The vast majority, no doubt, are regular folks, living normal, non-fanatical lives, content to raise children and do their jobs. Yet their religion and their institutions, in America and throughout the world, have been allowed to breed a fanaticism and a hatred that now mortally threatens the whole world, and the United States ("the Great Satan") and Israel ("the little Satan") in particular.

Americans, like Israelis, are distinguished among the nations in their respect for innocent human life. They will not as a policy target civilians, and if civilians are harmed as an unintended result of a military action, they will be genuinely sorry.

The deterrent policy of the civilized democracies must strictly adhere to this principle, or we risk falling to the miserable level of our avowed enemies, who see - and have always seen - killing civilians as a primary instrument of their policy of intimidation.

But the Western World must first protect its own people, and its institutions, and that means creating a deterrent policy that will make the next suicide bombers and their masters think seventy times before entertaining the possibility of a reprise of the September 11 atrocities. In any case, the Jihadists are demonstrably insensitive to human life, and even welcome martyrdom as a supreme value.

Whether it is publicly announced or merely communicated through quiet channels, the Jihadists must know with an absolute certainty that the next outrage against a symbol of the West will prompt a reciprocal response against a corresponding site of interest to Islam.

There is a clear precedent for this from World War Two, to conclude the conflict that began with the heinous sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese were warned of the Atomic weapon before it was used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They didn't take the warning seriously. When the American threat was realized, the war ended within days. But consider the millions of lives lost between December 1941 and August 1945.

Let us pray that the holy shrines of Islam may continue to serve the peaceful worshippers of Allah. But should the Jihadists ever again dare to consider a genocidal assault on the people and symbols of Western civilization--let them know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they will pay a correspondingly heavy price in the coin of what is sacred to them. Perhaps the knowledge of this danger will induce moderate forces in the Moslem world to bring pressure to bear on the extremists.


The free world cannot bow down and accept another crushing humiliation from the Islamic Holy Warriors. We cannot accept another catastrophic loss of human life. We cannot just pray that the problem will go away, or that it can be solved by conventional strikes on military targets or diplomatic business as usual.

The West must face Mecca now, respectfully, dealing forthrightly with the threat that the cowards of Jihad have forced us to confront, speaking to the murderers in the only language they understand.

And finally, may I express the hope that the day will come when the faithful of all religions may turn to their respective holy sites, invoking not calls to vengeance but prayers for peace.

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