A New War Against Radical Islam - Intro

Now that the U.S. has returned to a pre-9/11 mentality, where terrorists who want to obliterate American cities are to be given rights and treated as criminal defendants, our first line of defense, the CIA, is under assault for doing its job, and Democrats, with their secondary concern for national security, are in charge, it is worth considering what the U.S. should be doing to prevent another attack.

I have a list of several proposals, none of which would be acceptable to the current administration or its supporters -- who apparently believe that pandering to the Islamic world, downgrading our defenses, and only remaining on the offensive in one area -- Afghanistan -- will prevent another devastating attack on U.S. soil.  You will note that all of my ideas involve offense, or actions designed to facilitate an offensive posture -- and no doubt many will find them offensive -- taking the fight to the enemy outside the U.S.  There has been much whining and sniveling by terrorist rights supporters about civil liberties. No one is doing more to undermine civil liberties than civil libertarians, with their misguided attempts to extend rights which properly belong only to U.S. citizens to hostile aliens, their efforts to destroy necessary secrecy, and their willingness to cripple our premier intelligence agency. Unfortunately, if there is another major attack on the U.S., it is almost certain that the country will react in part with defensive efforts -- security measures which by their very nature restrict the rights of Americans.  There will be more surveillance, more travel restrictions, more government databases, new calls for documentation and identification, and all sorts of other state infringements on normal life. And they will have strong bipartisan support.

The best way to avoid that scenario is to prevent another attack. And the way to do that without compromising the rights of Americans is take the offense, unleash U.S. power abroad, and destroy & disrupt our enemies before they can strike. Rather than foolishly trying to be liked, a policy pursued by both Obama & Bush, the U.S. needs to instill fear and terror in those who would use terror against us. Our enemies should know that killing Americans will bring not rebuilding efforts, humanitarian aid, or attempts to spread democracy, but death and destruction.

This post will be followed by some specific proposals.