Infinite Monkeys

No one admires the Brits more than I. However this time they are not facing an identifiable foreign enemy. They are up against an enemy who has insinuated himself into British society and therefore entitled to all the benefits which flow from that. If one side in a war has no rules or restraints and the other is bound by rules and law its time to buy burka futures. That also goes for the U.S. and Canada.

I think Guy points out a fact ("they are not facing an identifiable foreign enemy") that makes the whole "victory at all costs" thing much more complicated for today's Britain than for Churchill's. It may feel good to quote such black-and-white language of duty and resolve, but Islamo-Fascism is profoundly different from WWII's Axis nations.

I don't believe that when Churchill said, "Victory at all costs," he was including victory at the cost of the fundamental values that all Britons held dear. A victory against Islam at the expense of liberty, justice, representative government, or private property is not a victory. It is eliminating your enemy by becoming him.

Liberty abridged is rarely restored, and then only partially. The freedoms Americans lost in the American Civil War, the New Deal, the Great Society, and other government power-grabs have never been returned to the levels they existed before each of those events.

How do we fight foolishness in all its forms? For one, we stop relying on our government to do it for us. Then we take a couple of tips from those Muslims that are causing us so much trouble:

1. Be fruitful and multiply. Europe's immigrant population isn't booming because people keep moving there (although they are), but because the immigrants are having lots of kids and the "natives" are worrying about retirement benefits and a 30-hour work week.
2. Take responsibility for the minds of your children. Teach your kids the truth, and shield them from foolishness until they are old enough to recognize it. The government education complex will not do this. In fact, it will work against this goal.
3. Be patient. It may take a generation or two, but if you apply principles #1 and #2, and encourage others to do likewise, then eventually the scales will tip in favor of wisdom.

I would also add:

4. Be principled. While we shouldn't "let the perfect be the enemy of the good", we also shouldn't accept "slightly less completely f***ing evil than the other guy" just to be on the winning side of an election, an issue, or whatever.

We need to know who/what we're fighting - and we're fighting ideas more than we are nations. We should consider what sort of weapons to employ in a war of minds.

The New York Times report (via National Review's "The Corner):

"From the New York Times: 'Counterterrorism officials estimate that 10,000 to 15,000 Muslims living in Britain are supporters of Al Qaeda. Among that number, officials believe that as many as 600 men were trained in camps connected with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and elsewhere.'"

I think we are a little beyond patience and being "fruitful and multiplying." Long term strategies are important, but in the short term, Islamist terrorists are killing us.

And your suggestion? Perhaps a chip embedded in each person's neck that is connected to John Ashcroft's remote control (hat tip: John McCain & SNL writers)?

Also, this will sound cold, but "killing us" is a bit of an exaggeration. At this point, the Islamist body count in England doesn't hold a candle to the IRA body count. From another angle, Islamic terrorists haven't, in the entire history of terrorism, killed more Americans than Planned Parenthood does in about a week.

So no, we're not beyond patience and procreation. Also, "we" aren't really in a position to "do" anything about terrorism except opine about how we ought to respond to and think about these events. As mere men (as opposed to, say, people with actual power) we are best in a position to take the long view. Soldiers and statesmen will do what they will. With God's help, my wife and I will raise two daughters who will, with God's help, marry and raise their own children. Our ambition need be no more than that.

Could things get much worse? Yes, they could. But not only have we (and most other people) very little control over this, but those who DO have power and influence are tilting at windmills if they "really think the only way to bring about the peace is to sacrifice your children and kill all your enemies." [Larry Norman]

That said, I did mean to link to this article by Christopher Hitchins:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=15713152&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=07-07--war-on-britain--we-cannot-surrender--name_page.html

Even when I disagree with him, which is often, it's always a delight to read Hitchins's writing. You can just picture him typing the text from his permanent chair at the corner of the bar, slurping down single-malt scotch and dropping cigarette ashes in his keyboard. If anyone deserves the honorary chairmanship of the "Coalition of the Swilling", it's Hitch.

The really fantastic thing about the Londoners' response to this horror is the glorious, two fisted "F*** you" they have offered to the terrorists by refusing to be intimidated by the bombings. The last line in Hitchens's article sums it up:

"...their sordid love of death is as nothing compared to our love of London, which we will defend as always, and which will survive this with ease."

That is patriotism from a man that loves his city (and country) like (as Joe Sobran would compare) he loves his mother: because she's his.

As average citizens, we can shake our fists, or we can fight terrorism by refusing to be terrorized. Get on that plane, train, or bus. Go to that baseball game. Smoke that cigarette. And plan that vacation.

Time for a drink!

"As average citizens, we can shake our fists, or we can fight terrorism by refusing to be terrorized. Get on that plane, train, or bus. Go to that baseball game. Smoke that cigarette. And plan that vacation."

You see, there is something "we" can do!! Except for that cigarette thing. Gummint won't allow that.

> You see, there is something "we" can do!!

Yes, and all that without government wiretaps or nosing into library records.

;-)

I don't mind the government looking into the library records of foreigners on U.S. soil. We wouldn't be sweating this so much if the borders were a bit more secure.