Not-So-Special
Operation
By Andrew J. Bacevich
 President
Bush has labeled the present struggle the "first war of the
21st century." Yet his administration's approach to waging
that war does not differ appreciably from the methods on which the
U.S. relied to wage the last wars of the previous century —
namely, the sundry minor military adventures concocted by the Clinton
administration during the '90s. In Operation Enduring Freedom, the
Clinton legacy at its most pernicious lives on.
Treason of the Cleric
By David Pryce-Jones
For
a start the September 11 terrorists had plenty of other people's
money and credit cards for the easy life. They hired cars and traveled.
They bought expensive gadgets and communications systems. As Muslims,
they were forbidden alcohol, but they frequented bars, and stood
drinks all round. Again as Muslims, they were also supposed not
to run after women, but they resorted to call girls and strip joints.
A Florida lap dancer, the gorgeous Samantha, informs us that she
displayed her charms a few inches from one terrorist, but the fellow
then tipped her a lousy twenty bucks. What makes these men particular
is that they were about to destroy what they were evidently enjoying.
Liberation, Not Containment
By Stephen Schwartz
It's
true that the war against bin Ladenite terror — that is to
say, the anti-Wahhabi war — is no more about Islam per se than
the war on Hitler was about Nietzsche, or the Cold War was about
socialist economics. But the war on Hitler was fought in Germany,
and the Cold War was fought against Communists: The war against
terrorism, too, must be fought where the enemy is, and that means
the Islamic countries. Wahhabism has declared a war to the death
against us, as the Nazis and Communists did. And we must fight Wahhabism
to the death, to secure not only our survival but that of Islam
itself as a great religion and civilization. Bombing the Taliban
and other extremists will no more destroy Islam than the bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed Japanese culture.
Identity Unknown
By John O'Sullivan
The
vigorous assertion of a strong Western cultural identity would not
divide Muslims from other citizens; it would divide ordinary law-abiding
Muslims (including parents worried that their sons might be led
astray by Taliban propaganda) from radical Islamists. It would also
push those Muslims with divided hearts in the direction of prudently
reconciling their religious beliefs with their duty of local patriotic
allegiance. It is the unwillingness of the West to defend itself
that fuels the suspicion that it is weak and cowardly. Once the
West begins to proclaim its own worth, the threat of terrorism will
shrink to manageable proportions. We will be able to respond to
the threat from Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda as Bismarck replied
to Palmerston's threat to intervene in Schleswig-Holstein: If the
British army lands in Schleswig-Holstein, it will be arrested by
the police.
Trouble Area
By John J. Miller
Much
has been made in recent weeks of the CIA's failure to penetrate
Osama bin Laden's terrorist cells and prevent thousands of deaths
— a failure in what the spooks call "human intelligence."
Left almost untouched in the recriminations, however, is another
kind of human-intelligence disaster, which has occurred at American
universities. Despite receiving millions of dollars in federal grants
over several decades to develop an expertise on Islam and Arab culture,
the academy has done little but offer spectacular misreadings and
terrible advice. Higher education has seen plenty go wrong over
the last generation, but the inability — and often the refusal
— of professors in Middle Eastern studies to prepare the country
for mass terrorism or help it cope with the aftermath may eventually
be considered one of its most damaging failures.
Local Heroes
By Mark Steyn
One
could argue that September 11 vindicates perfectly the decentralized,
federalist, conservative view of the world. We all love firemen.
On the Fourth of July, in small towns across America, the fire department
leads off the parade, as it should. Proponents of small government
don't want to sell off the fire trucks, they want to get rid of
all the stuff that distracts from the fire department. The debate
over government is between folks who want a fire chief and those
who want a fire chief plus a transgendered cultural-outreach officer.
Fellows like Edgar Rosenblum of New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre:
"The fire department is not more important than art,"
he said at some arts gabfest a few years back. "If you will
save people, what will you save them for?"
The Jersey Crusader
By Ramesh Ponnuru
A
consultant to Schundler sums up what makes him so refreshing, and
maddening, to work for: "This is a guy who does not take coaching.
He knows what he wants to say and how he wants to say it."
His aims are noble and sincere. Schundler tells the editorial board,
"I am so tired of hearing that poor children can't learn. We
are shortchanging these kids. There is such a lack of idealism in
this country, and it's because we've been told that we can't do
things."
Porn, Pervasive Presence
By William F. Buckley Jr.
I
stopped by at the local Abercrombie & Fitch for sailing wear.
I waited, at the counter, for my package and looked down on the
A&F Summer Catalogue. You could see the handsome young man on
the cover, but the catalogue itself was bound in cellophane. My
eyes turned to the card alongside. "To subscribe: Fill out
this card and head to the nearest A&F store with a valid photo
ID." With a valid photo ID? I thought that odd and asked
the young man behind the counter, who was perhaps 19 years old,
why IDs were required for purchasers of an Abercrombie & Fitch
catalogue. He said, "Well, uh, it's kind of porny inside."
Getting Aroused
By Jay Nordlinger
When
asked, "What can be done?" anti-pornographers almost invariably
say, before all else, Simply enforce the laws already on the books.
This is the answer that politicians on the stump often give when
avoiding the adoption of a hard position. But it is a true and right
response in this case. Obscenity is illegal, not protected by the
First Amendment. And John Ashcroft has made clear that he will —
just as the porn industry feared — make anti-obscenity prosecution
a priority of the Bush administration. As The Nation's journalistic
pornographer put it, "George W. Bush and John Ashcroft have
won half the battle simply by showing up."
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