"You started it": the rationale of the enemy

If you read the next to the last paragraph of this story , you understand a major piece of the problem with the war on terror.

If you think back to how you felt the morning of 9/11, how you were fixed to the tv or radio, how you were dragged through the emotional roller coaster ride of grief, and sadness, and horror, and anger, and resignation as I was, then you can admit that you faced a similar roller coaster ride when the London attacks of 7/7 were plastered across those same mediums.

And, like the days immediately after 9/11 here, when we were thinking about revenge and retribution and justice, it is a fair bet that the Brits are experiencing this now, as I write this diary entry, or will in the not-too-distant future.

Though some have forgotten, I and many fellow Americans, have not.  I have not forgotten the complete void of Arab voices rejecting those horrible atrocities that day.  I have not forgotten the myriad of media outlets suggesting this was, in some twisted way, our fault.  I have not forgotten that voices across the world started popping up in rejoice over the Infidel Pig getting what it deserved.  I have not forgotten the images of Palestinians dancing in the streets.  I have not forgotten the images of our police and firefighters crying, holding dead children, sitting exhausted and covered in soot and debris with blank stares of horror and grief and shock and disbelief.  SOME of us have not forgotten.

I knew as soon as I saw the horrible stories about London that the time would be short before these same types of images and emotions would surface again.  I knew we could expect a period of respect and remembrance and support followed quickly by the stories of complicity, and if you look hard enough, the stories of celebration and joy among certain circles of our human population.

When I read that Iran says this is our fault, or the Brit's fault, or that America is the Father and Israel the Mother of al Quaeda, I am not left disappointed.  When I read that Arabs and Muslims are fearful of retribution, I am skeptical.  I'm afraid my cynicism and skepticism after these long years of the war on terror have pushed me in the direction of believing this is merely a "first media propaganda strike" to try and keep the non Arab Muslims from losing whatever sympathy they might have had remaining for their so-called plight and victim status.  When I think about the contrast between all the Arab outcry NOW, after 7/7, and the total lack of it after 9/11, I am outright stupefied.  What is different?  What has changed?

The enemy consistently justifies it's action with a "you started it" mentality, accusing us of slaughtering their innocent civilians; emphasis on women and children.  Yet these same people are NOT denouncing Arab Muslims such as Zarqawi, for doing the same thing...TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE and to themselves with their vests tightly strapped on them in the name of 70 virgins and martyrdom.  This just does not add up.

The rationale of our enemy is the notion that we are horrible, godless barbarians that repress repress repress, and that we have no respect for human dignity.  The actions of the terrorists and the lack of Arab muslime response and denunciation  to those acts tells the tale for me of the nature of the enemy we face.  

The bottom line is this: Whatever our enemies choose as justification for their actions, be it Bin Laden or Zarqawi, or Ayatollah what's-his-name, or closer to home with Michael Moore and George Soros, we cannot afford to forget how far back this all really goes, and what the stakes are for both sides.  Whatever some may say about America and what we stand for, we can ill afford to let them make anyone believe they are helpless victims.  They are alive and well and willing to kill as many of their own as necessary to win.  Until our collective will (world wide) is to kill as many of them as necessary, we will continue in a draw of sorts...winning some, losing some, and the innocents will continue to bleed.

We aren't going to pull all Israelis out of Israel and put them in a new land, we aren't going to just load up and pull our troops out of all foreign lands, and we aren't going to allow everyone outside our borders to fend for themselves.  So, we either fight to win, or both sides are going to see thousands and thousands die in a tit-for-tat, "you started it so I'm going to kill your Mother and little sister to make you feel bad about it" war until one of us runs out of fighters.