THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 237, October 28, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
NEGOTIATING WITH OUR MURDERERS
By Alan Caruba
WORLD WAR IV & THE JIHADIST ENEMY OF AMERICA & THE WEST: AN APOSTLE OF APPEASEMENT & SURRENDER
OFFERING ADVICE ON HOW THE U.S.A. SHOULD DEAL WITH THE ISLAMIST ENEMY -- URGING THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO BEGIN
OPENING CHANNELS TO AL-QA'IDA FOR THE PURPOSE OF NEGOTIATING A TRUCE -- IGNORING HISTORY, WHICH IS REPLETE WITH
LESSONS THAT TEACH THE FUTILITY OF NEGOTIATING WITH PEOPLE WHO WANT TO KILL YOU
FULL STORY:
Making the rounds of the opinion editorial pages of various U.S. dailies, Professor Allen J. Zerkin has been urging the United States
to begin opening channels to al-Qa'ida for the purpose of seeking “a truce…no matter how much that galls us.”
Professor Zerkin is a research fellow at New York University’s Center for Catastrophic Preparedness and Response, and an adjunct
professor at its Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. These would appear to be rather impressive credentials, but should we
really listen to someone who thinks al-Qa'ida has “limited and specific goals”?
According to Osama bin Laden, “The United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, plundering its
riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors.” That’s what he was saying back in 1998. It is useful to
keep in mind that bin Laden is worth millions thanks to his family connections in Saudi Arabia where he grew up. His father,
Muhammad bin Laden, was a billionaire construction magnate in Saudi Arabia.
Osama bin Laden received an excellent education before experiencing some kind of Wahabi epiphany, when he put aside a life of
wealth and ease in favor of joining the war against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When that was over, he returned home to
Saudi Arabia expressing an antipathy for the royal family, an antipathy that earned him an invitation to leave the country. He went
to the Sudan and, in time, his Saudi passport was revoked. The Saudis, who live by the strictest Islamic codes of behavior, were not
strict enough for Osama.
Professor Zerkin, though, worries that al-Qa'ida will be able to attack the U.S.A. with a biological or nuclear weapon. Who doesn’t
worry about this? And just as surely, who doesn’t know that there are dozens of other Islamic terrorist organizations that dream of
doing it?
Professor Zerkin found a grain of hope in a recent message by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qa'ida’s second in command. In that message,
Zawahri referred to bin Laden’s April, 2004, offer of a truce to any European country that made a commitment to stop "attacking
Muslims or intervening in their affairs.” This is a truce that sets in motion the end of Europe as the birthplace of Western civilization
and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate there.
Anyone who has paid even the most casual attention to the news of late knows that al-Qa'ida’s thugs, themselves, have been busy
attacking Muslims, indiscriminately killing them in Iraq to thwart the birth of a democratic, modern nation. Afghanistan, which just
held another successful election, is still a battleground. And, of course, there was the recent terrorist attack in London against
“infidels” in its subways and on its buses. There has since been another attack in Bali.
The bloodlust that distinguishes al-Qa'ida operations is hardly a platform for back channel or any other negotiations. Professor
Zerkin acknowledges this, noting that terrorist attacks leave little to discuss and the greater goal of destroying Western civilization
-- i.e., Judeo-Christian civilization -- is non-negotiable. He even concedes it is widely believed that “bin Laden and company will not
act in good faith.” If the professor would read the Koran, he would find this supposition confirmed in the Islamic holy book.
History is replete with lessons that teach the futility of negotiating with people who want to kill you. The English, the French, the
Soviets, and others discovered that no treaty with the Nazis was worth the paper upon which it was written. Famously, Neville
Chamberlain, then Prime Minister of England, did not return from Berlin having achieved “peace in our time.”
The dregs of Islam have been gathered together by bin Laden under the banner of al-Qa'ida. They are led by men with an utterly
bizarre view of the world and the same casual indifference to human life with which they recruit “youths who love death as you love
life.”
In the end, Professor Zerkin says:
“I am not suggesting that we engage in direct meetings with al-Qa'ida or
that we stop pursuing those who commit or support acts of terror. But,
through back channels, we should seek to determine if bin Laden would
withdraw his ‘fatwa’ against Americans in exchange for certain policy
changes, if al-Qa'ida would settle for less than its maximum demands and
if its far-flung followers would honor a truce.”
Professor Zerkin thinks there is “inconclusive” proof that bin Laden might be willing to do a deal. So, (1) why is he even suggesting
negotiations and (2) why is any daily newspaper actually printing his recommendation, as if it had a shred of merit?
He needs to visit the former Nazi concentration camps or any of the camps of the former Soviet Union’s Ghulag Archipelago. He
needs a reminder of the prisons and mass graves that dot the landscape of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. He needs to gain a greater insight
into the Arab mind.
He needs to visit Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. When he does, he will no longer be penning hopeful nonsense about negotiating
with the criminally and theologically insane. There is only one course of action for the West. It must destroy its Islamist enemies or,
failing that, it must surrender
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
© Alan Caruba 2005
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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