Preventing a Phase II fizzle: Salvaging the War on Terror

By Wayne Dunn
web posted March 11, 2002

Phase I of the war was prosecuted far better than many
expected. Though Iran -- the seat of Islamic fundamentalism,
and, according to the State Department in 1996, the "most active
state sponsor of terrorism" -- should have been first in our
crosshairs, how could a rational person oppose toppling the
Taliban and putting Osama bin Laden on the run?

All in all, Bush did well but if recent headlines are any indication
of events to come, Phase II will bring the war to a floundering
halt.

There's certainly nothing inherently wrong with U.S. forces
training and advising Philippine, Georgian and other nations'
armies to fight terrorists in their respective backyards. But
believing that America can "advise" its way out of danger, can
cajole supposedly friendly nations into doing what we have every
right and incentive to do ourselves, is a grave error.

Pursuing a few terrorists cowering in a Georgian gorge or a
Philippine jungle while virtually ignoring, or even courting, the
governments that inspire them, is an engraved invitation for future
assaults on America. If office-holding patrons of religiously-
inspired terror are exempt from U.S. retaliation simply because
they're too savvy to overtly tie themselves to attacks on us, much
as a Mafia boss might not personally hire the hit man who does
his bidding, then we doom ourselves to perpetually chasing our
tail around the globe, depleting our resources for the paltriest of
payoffs.

There are thousands of men (and women, Israel has recently
learned) like the September 11 suicide bombers. We can't
possibly net them all. But, primarily, it's not individual fanatics we
must chase -- though I hope they're all caught or killed; it's the
governments who encourage and finance such murderers we
must obliterate. (And, even more fundamentally, it's the
philosophies that breed such governments we must battle.)

How then do we prevent a Phase II fizzle?

First, to hell with training Yemeni soldiers and the like -- we must
attack Iran. We must unseat the ayatollah and mullahs who
control its government. The budding Iranian freedom movement
must be fostered and an American-like constitution, one that
divides church and state, instituted. This may require our forces
occupy Tehran, just as Gen. Douglas MacArthur's army
occupied defeated Japan. U.S. combatants, of course, would
likely suffer causalities, but unless we topple the throne of
Muslim fundamentalism, U.S. civilians most assuredly will.

Second, we must squash Saddam Hussein. Iraq must be meted
the same fate we deal Iran. And although it's true Hussein is not
religiously motivated -- his hatred of America is more personal
than philosophical -- his quest for nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons is infamous. He must not be allowed to
survive this war.
 
What then is the downside of overthrowing the Iranian
religionists and Saddam? Well, our Europeans "allies" will wring
their hands. But when have they not? The UN will undoubtedly
denounce us. But why respect an institution that seated slave-
dealing Sudan on its human rights council while kicking America
off? And various leftist groups will protest. But protesting is their
stock in trade, and they're already doing it.

However, the most sobering hazard of dismantling Iran and
Iraq's governments, followed by a period of occupation, is the
extreme risk to our fighting men and women. But if we shirk this
task now, will it be any less perilous later, after our enemies
acquire deadlier weapons?

The proper role of government is to defend the lives and rights of
its citizens, to respond with force against any and all who initiate
it. Americans' rights have been violated -- property has been
destroyed and lives have been lost. The strategy of the Bush
administration then ought not to hinge on, say, advising other
nations' militaries, but on completely and unequivocally
unleashing our own -- and pointing them in the right direction.

Wayne Dunn is creator/editor of The Rational View at
www.rationalview.com and can be reached at
waydunn@aol.com.

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