THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 91, May 20, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
FIGHT THE ENEMY IN IRAQ, OR HERE?
By Alan Caruba
THE MIDDLE EAST, ISLAMISM, & THE TERROR WAR AGAINST AMERICA & THE WEST: FACING A DEADLY ENEMY
DEDICATED TO THE PROPOSITION THAT AMERICA, ISRAEL, & THE WEST MUST BE DESTROYED -- FIGHTING THE JIHADIST
ENEMY AT HOME & ABROAD -- WHY THE AMERICAN HOMELAND IS VULNERABLE TO FURTHER TERRORIST ATTACKS,
REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF TROOPS WE HAVE IN IRAQ -- RELEVANCE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION & OPEN BORDERS
TO THE CONTINUING VULNERABILITY OF THE U.S.A. TO TERRORIST ATTACKS -- THE FUTILITY OF EFFORTS TO MAINTAIN
ORDER IN IRAQ & BRING TO THAT COUNTRY THE RULE OF LAW & A STABLE SYSTEM OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY
FULL STORY:
Among my circle of friends, the question of whether to fight on in Iraq is largely settled. They want to fight the jihadists
there, reasoning that failure to carry the fight to the enemy will lead inevitably to attacks on the American homeland.
Taking the long view of things, I am inclined to believe that al-Qa'ida and like-minded groups have examined the lessons
of 9-11 to fashion a plan for a future that fits their belief that America (and Israel) must be destroyed.
I don’t think it’s an accident the Islamist terror groups have not attacked again, and I don’t think anyone can truly grasp
how certifiably insane these people -- and the millions of Muslims who support them -- truly are.
Islam has been at war with the world since its inception and has been enjoying a renewed spirit of jihad since as early as
the 1920s, when the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt. Islam gained momentum after World War II in the 1950s
and burst forth in 1979 as the Iranian Revolution that deposed the Shah. Muslims — mostly Arabs — think they have a
score to settle since the Crusades.
The recent thwarted attack on Fort Dix suggests that the U.S. homeland is vulnerable, no matter whether we have 150,000
troops in Iraq or not. Indeed, in a nation with open borders and a million foreigners getting off of airplanes every year as
tourists or to conduct business, I can't imagine how much more vulnerable we could be.
A nation that cannot stop, cannot track, and cannot find 12 million illegal aliens in its midst is vulnerable, even if we had a
policeman or soldier on every street corner. Add in “sanctuary” cities, the vast array of services plus other forms of
accommodation, and about the only way the illegals might head south again is if our cities became Islamic terrorist killing
fields.
Unfortunately, neither President Bush nor the Congress seems to have understood the danger. Illegal immigration is quite
possibly the single greatest threat this nation faces today. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that some members of the jihad
cell planning the Fort Dix attack were here illegally. This was true, of course, of the 9-11 hijackers as well.
The argument for the invasion of Iraq was based, in part, on the need to create a constitutional democratic government
with which to replace Saddam Hussein’s horrid regime. I no longer believe we can bring constitutional democracy to the
region.
Other than the State of Israel and, to some extent, Turkey, where Ataturk, with the help of the military, imposed a secular
government on that nation after World War I, there are no democracies functioning in the Middle East. Lebanon had a
democracy of sorts, but the Palestinians and Syrians destroyed that the minute Muslims outnumbered the Christian
population.
The recent failed al-Qa'ida attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia prompts me to think that this “holy war” is also very much
about oil and who controls it. Al-Qa'ida and similar groups understand that, as long as the monarchs control it, they will
throw money at and pay lip service to the spread of Islam, but their primary concern is oil wealth.
I think, too, that, if the U.S.A. felt that any of those oil nations was in danger, we would come in -- as we did in Kuwait --
and restore the situation. That's why Vice President Dick Cheney recently was loudly telling the Iranians that any effort
to mess around with the sea lanes by which that oil makes its way to the West would be punished. He did so from the
deck of a U.S. carrier and his next stop was Saudi Arabia.
So, the "vulnerability" argument that we must remain in Iraq indefinitely or, in Bush terms, that we must not “cut and run,”
clashes with the reality of the way jihad is spread these days. For that, we can thank the Internet. The FBI counts some
6,000 jihad websites. Some provide detailed instructions on how to build car bombs or become one yourself.
Thus, as was the case of the British born-and-bred jihadists who killed people on buses and in subways in 2005, al-Qa'ida
does not need to maintain camps in places that are hard to reach in order to instruct and encourage attacks. This is not to
say they don’t have camps. They do, but more for the purpose of overthrowing Middle Eastern regimes than for a massed
army that would attack the U.S.A.
Finally, the need to remain in Iraq seems increasingly futile, given that most people in the region appear to be waiting for it
to bust into three separate areas -- one for the Kurds, another for the Sunnis, and still another for the Shiites. The Bush
administration keeps warning that the Shiites will ally with Iran, but many of the elected leaders of Iraq have long had
strong ties, as it is. Many were granted sanctuary in Iran from Saddam Hussein when he was in power.
As someone who can recall the debacle in Vietnam as U.S. administrations sought an “honorable” way out, history appears
to be telling us to begin preparing for new battles in other places, while reducing our presence in Iraq. We have worn out
our army there.
The Middle East defeats our best efforts because we simply do not understand the way Islam and tribal loyalty totally
defines the lives of all who live there.
Meanwhile, back at home, we need to salute the FBI’s latest coup — thanks to a sharp-eyed Circuit City employee — and
find ways to frustrate future attacks. In Europe, they intend to monitor the mosques. There are surely many American
Muslims who are loyal citizens. It’s the ones who are not that worry me.
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
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
American Foreign Policy -- Constitutional Democracy:
U.S. Promotion of Constitutional Democracy in Foreign Countries
International Politics & World Disorder:
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
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
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.
Caruba’s new book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press.
© Alan Caruba 2007
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity