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Jewish World Review March 19, 2004 / 26 Adar, 5764 No Way Out of War By Jonathan Tobin
Spain's election should remind the world that terrorism usually works
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
The horrific attack on Madrid's commuter rail lines last week proved to be
Spain's Sept. 11. But last Sunday's Spanish election may well go down as a far
greater victory for the terrorist group Al Qaeda than even the much larger
atrocity in the United States.
That's because the Spanish electorate reacted to their recent tragedy, now
believed to be the work of an offshoot of the same network that masterminded the
Sept. 11 attacks, by voting out of office a government that had strongly
supported the U.S. war on terror.
There were, of course, many reasons why this might have happened. But the
clear implication seems to be that Spain's opposition Socialist Party profited
from a sense that their country was being targeted for playing an active and
useful role in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. The Socialists' anti-war stand
was, in the minds of the majority of voters, vindicated by the destruction in
Madrid.
And no matter what the motivations of Spanish voters might have been, the
Islamic terror network that sent people to Madrid to murder hundreds of innocents
will conclude that their attack achieved its goal.
While the phrase "don't let the terrorists win" became so widely used in
this country in the months after Sept. 11 that it became a meaningless cliche,
the same fear does not appear to have bothered the Spanish. Instead, their
attitude toward Al Qaeda, like that of many of their fellow members of the European
Union, seems to be: Concentrate your fire on the Americans and leave us alone.
JUST ANOTHER FORM OF BLACKMAIL
All of which reminds us that there is an election coming up in this country
in November. Will the prospect of ousting President George W. Bush serve as an
incentive for terrorists to step up their efforts to kill Americans?
That's a terrible question few will utter aloud, though it has to be on
everyone's mind these days. As JWR contributing columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote
last month, we have no way of knowing whether the lack of an Al Qaeda
follow-up attack here is the result of the victories America has won in the war on
terror, or a decision by terrorists to hold their fire until a more propitious
moment arrives.
But though we may not have the ability to predict or stop all future attacks,
Americans of all political stripes can do something decisive: make it clear
that terrorists will gain nothing by a change in administration in Washington.
Perhaps the most dangerous thing that we can do - and it may be difficult for
those opposed to Bush's re-election to fathom - is to give the world the same
impression the Spanish electorate did before the bombs exploded in Madrid:
Namely, that we are prepared to opt out of the clash of civilizations that the
war on terror has become.
We risk more than a divisive debate if the pressure of partisan politics
tempts us into making this election a referendum on the war on terror itself. The
idea that politics ought to stop at the water's edge is an old-fashioned
notion, but given the stakes involved, it must now become an imperative.
As much as some of us would prefer to think that Islamic terror is some sort
of elaborate police problem - as the experts on the Islamic world reminded us,
before and after Sept. 11 - it is, in fact, a war. As was the case in the
immediate aftermath of the assault on America, the question is not whether the
Islamists will continue to fight, but whether we will take up the challenge and
treat it as the threat to our existence that it is. Like it or not, fate has
handed us another world war from which there is no safe haven.
Unfortunately, much of Europe, with the honorable exceptions of Britain,
Spain and Poland chose to opt out of the struggle in Iraq. But it appears as if
the terrorists have picked off one of our allies, leaving America a little more
isolated and vulnerable.
NOT A PARTISAN ISSUE
That may well be true, but what Europeans who have chosen not to fight for
the future of civilization think of either of the major-party candidates should
not be an issue. Indeed, what we need most from Kerry, whose honorable service
in the armed forces has been a key selling point for his candidacy, is to
send a message to our enemies and doubtful allies that cannot be misinterpreted:
America will fight the war no matter who sits in the Oval Office. Rejecting a
Franco-German-style appeasement of Islamic and Arab extremists isn't a
Republican or Democratic issue, and it ought never to be treated as one.
If the world needed an example of the perils of appeasing terror, they need
look no further than the attempts of numerous leaders to buy off Palestinian
terrorists with pressure on Israel.
Though many here and in Europe reject any linkage of the Palestinian war
against Israel with the Al Qaeda assault on the West, there's little doubt
remaining that Islamists see Israel as a bridgehead of democracy in the Middle East
that must not be allowed to exist. The tragic events of the last 31/2 years of
Palestinian violence, as well as the decade since the signing of the Oslo
peace accords, have shown that every attempt by Israel and the international
community to mollify the Palestinians has been met by increasing doses of
terrorism. Americans and Europeans should take note of this and draw appropriate
conclusions. Al Qaeda will be no more forgiving of appeasement than Hamas or Fatah.
The American election should be fought over the question of who is best able
to lead America's war effort in the next four years, not whether or not we are
fighting one. Republicans and Democrats can call each other all the names
they like, but on that question, there should be no daylight between Bush or
Kerry. If there is, the price will probably be paid in blood, not votes.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. Let him know what you think by clicking here. In June, Mr. Tobin won first places honors in the American Jewish Press Association's Louis Rapaport Award for Excellence in Commentary as well as the Philadelphia Press Association's Media Award for top weekly columnist. Both competitions were for articles written in the year 2002.
© 2004, Jonathan Tobin | ||||||||||
