Uncomfortable Truths

There are times when the fog of politics and war clears in an instant, only to reveal a reality far more disconcerting than the obscured one. Today was such a time.

In London, as many as 40 people were killed when terrorists (almost certainly Islamic) detonated several bombs nearly simultaneously in the subway, and on a bus. Hundreds more were wounded. This butchering was just the latest in a string of attacks that has stretched around the world: Madrid, Beslan, Bali, New York, Washington. Our enemies kill for killing's sake; they are driven by a murderous ideology of hate, intimidation, and fanaticism. They have no qualms about killing civilians; indeed, it is their goal to kill the maximum number possible. They do have political aims, as all terrorist groups do, but that does nothing to change the fact that they are sadistic, cruel, and fundamentally evil. It is an honor to be hated by such monsters.

These attacks were undoubtedly designed to drive the British out of Iraq and Afghanistan, much like last year's Madrid attacks were successful in forcing Spanish capitulation in Iraq. As if any more confirmation were needed, the Madrid and London attacks reveal the foundation of al-Qaeda's strategy: Launch terrorist attacks, kill as many as possible, and then wait on leftists and other sympathizers to force the government to capitulate to terrorist demands. In the case of Spain, this strategy worked perfectly. Al-Qaeda's goal was to remove the pro-American prime minister in Madrid from power and replace him with an appeaser who would retreat from Iraq. The terrorists launched their attacks, and the leftists did the rest. The common (but not coordinated) goal of forcing Spanish capitulation was achieved. The Spanish people were tested, and promptly they threw up their hands in surrender. Judging from early indications, I don't think the British will be so easily moved. The people who stood alone against Hitler for a year are made of sterner stuff.

Well, some of them are, anyway. Even as the bodies of the victims of the London attacks were being pulled from the charred wreckage, pro-Saddam MP George Galloway, a hero to American liberals, faithfully took up the terrorists' cause:

We urge the government to remove people in this country from harms way, as the Spanish government acted to remove its people from harm, by ending the occupation of Iraq and by turning its full attention to the development of a real solution to the wider conflicts in the Middle East.

Only then will the innocents here and abroad be able to enjoy a life free of the threat of needless violence.

If this statement sounds familiar, it is because it mirrors the tapes periodically released by al-Qaeda, demanding the same thing.

It would be one thing if Galloway was just a harmless British nut who had no American following. But even a cursory look at American liberal websites belies that hope (try here, here, and here).

For an even more revealing look into what the Democratic Party has become, click here. The language is coarse, as leftists often are, and the hatred sickening, but as you read through the comments, ask yourself, do you want these kinds of people protecting you against terrorism? How much can you trust a party that compares American soldiers to Nazis, but is always the first to defend the rights of detained terrorists? What does it say when a party uses harsher language to describe their domestic political opponents than they use to describe our foreign enemies? What does it say when Osama bin Laden quotes from the liberals' favorite movie, Fahrenheit 9/11? What does it say when the director of that movie is given the seat of honor at the Democratic National Convention?

It says a lot. Western civilization is engulfed with a war against radical Islam, but there are large segments of Western society that want no part of it. Let the leftists equivocate and apologize for terrorism (it is, after all, their right), but let's not forget that our enemies feed off such displays of Western decadence and weakness. As Winston Churchill once said:

Do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.