THE ALL-ISLAMIC CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS.

Weapons and Terror: Did the Iraq war really boost al-Qaida? (Christopher Hitchens, Slate, 5/20/03).

This is where all our political and cultural intelligence will be required. In a civil war within the Islamic world, secularists and liberals have the chance to make many allies against theocracy and its gruesome tactics. It is not just Christian Nigerians who oppose the imposition of sharia law in that country and the stoning of Amina Lawal. As the jihadists begin to explode themselves and their devices on Arab streets, they will not fulfill the usual prediction of bringing ever more recruits to Bin Laden. Quite the contrary. Instead, and as in Afghanistan and Iran, there will be more people willing to oppose theocratic absolutism. Of course this political project can be called a "war" because it does also necessitate the use of remorseless force. But when the murderers strike next on American or European soil, it won't prove that it was wrong to fight them, and it certainly won't demonstrate that we brought it on ourselves by making them cross (i.e., by fighting back). It will remind us that it is indeed a war. So, it's depressing to see that, just as many Arabs and Muslims are turning against Bin Ladenism, some Western liberals are calling for a capitulation in the mind and hinting that this war is either avoidable or, even worse, not worth fighting, lest it offend the enemy.

I'm quite taken (guess I've been reading too many Brits) with the idea that the west has been hit with the by-blows of an Islamic civil war. This is, oddly enough, an optimistic view of the war on terror. It suggests that we have real allies in the region and that, by putting our thumb on the scale, we can help give birth to real change. I like this view, but I'm not convinced it's correct. One thing that would convince me is if a chastened Saudi Arabia now committed itself to stamping out the extremists. Another thing would be some sign of a popular Palestinian movement against Arafat and the terrorists.

I am very happy to see that the Democrats are not getting away with their ploy of trying to make President Bush the absolute guarantor of our safety. It would be astonishing if there were no more terrorist attacks on US soil. I hope that this ploy, which is too thin to pass, will just end up being another nail in the Democrat's coffin, but I do think that, if there is another act on the scope of 9/11, all bets are off. I just don't know how the American people would react. Posted by David Cohen at May 20, 2003 1:58 PM