One day the world will thank us
By Charles Bloomer
web posted September 18, 2006
On the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, European leaders and press could not resist the temptation to include some "yeah, but" comments in their messages to the United States. In general, the messages were sympathetic and supportive, but many had to insert cheap shot criticism of America's prosecution of the War on Terror.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, more supportive of the US than her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder, threw in a statement that was naïve at best and moronic at worst. As reported by CNSNews.com, Merkel said, "Respect for human rights, tolerance and respect for other cultures must be the maxim of our actions, along with decisiveness and international cooperation."
The Spanish press complains that were are not safer today than we were back then, and accuses Bush of exercising a "neo-conservative" foreign policy, and using the 9/11 attacks as a "pretext" for war.
I realize that Merkel and other European politicians must placate their constituencies. A German poll indicates that 77% of Europeans disapprove of American foreign policy. And I realize that the Spanish press, like the majority of European press, is Liberal-leftist and anti-war in its worldview.
Let me point out some things for the Europeans. First, European public opinion does not determine American foreign policy. Whether 77% or 99% disagree with us is of really no consequence. American foreign policy is driven, or should be driven, by America's best interests. That isn't to say that we should not consider our allies. But in the end, we determine what we do based on what we think needs to be done. As George Bush said, you are either with us or against us.
Second, if the unwarranted attacks on the United States that occurred on 9/11 were not a "pretext" for going to war, if an act of war perpetrated against us is not sufficient to go to war, I don't know what is. (In truth, we should have gone to war when previous acts of war were launched against us – the attacks on our embassies and the USS Cole.) The Spanish press in this case has no credibility. The Spanish retreated from the war on terrorism after being attacked. Are the Spanish using the Madrid attacks as a "pretext" for cowardice and withdrawal? Are the Spanish people safer now that they have surrendered to the terrorists? If the world is more dangerous today, it is because the terrorists are emboldened by victories such as the one against Spain.
Third, Merkel's maxim of "respect for human rights, tolerance and respect for other cultures" is only meaningful if reciprocated by the other cultures. Those ideas work only with a reasonable, rational opponent, and the Jihadists are neither reasonable nor rational. The lack of human rights, the lack of tolerance, and the lack of respect for Western culture by the terrorists' culture of death were obvious in the attacks against us on 9/11 and in the subsequent attacks in Madrid, London, and elsewhere. The enemies who attacked America have a different set of maxims. Those include the destruction of the West, its civilization, its freedoms and liberties, and the imposition of its particular form of despotic religion. Simply put, the Jihadists want to destroy us.
Merkel's criticism is unfounded and unnecessary. America has respect for human rights and tolerance. We respect other cultures. We are also realists. We will stand up to those who threaten us. We will respond to those who attack us. If necessary, we will go to war to defend our culture, our nation, our people, our freedoms. We do not abandon our principles in the process, nor do we degrade ourselves by stooping to our enemy's level. We do not target innocents as the terrorists do. We do not explode bombs in crowded marketplaces as the enemy does. We do not kidnap and behead hostages. We do not fly airliners into skyscrapers full of innocent civilians.
The European criticism expressed recently regarding our war on terror is either naïve or just plain stupid. Either way, it is dangerous. The enemy we face is brutal, intolerant, murderous and driven by an irrational ideology. The enemy will not stop attacking us if we swear by Merkel's maxim. The enemy will not respond to diplomacy, negotiations, or incentives. The enemy we fight today has one goal: To overpower and enslave us. Hiding our heads in the sand and mouthing platitudes about tolerance and respecting other cultures will not defeat this enemy.
America has a right and a duty to protect itself, its people, and its culture. If that takes a "neo-conservative" foreign policy, so be it, so long as that policy defeats America's enemies. If we have to do it alone, without European support, so be it. If that offends the rest of the world, so be it.
One day Europe and the rest of the civilized world will thank us. Until then, America hopefully will continue to do the right thing in this war against evil. What is good for America is good for the free world. 
Charles Bloomer is Contributing Editor at Enter Stage Right and creator of Liberty Call US. He can be contacted at clbloomer@enterstageright.com. © 2006 Charles Bloomer