Terrorist Do Not Fear Free Societies; They Flourish in Them

Paraphrasing Thomas Friedman in the New York Times, the American people basically fired George Bush in the last election. We're now just watching him clean out his desk.

While considering Mr. Bush's positions and his State of the Union Address, I am re-examining some of the basic tenets of his beliefs and how I, essentially, agreed with the most basic of all: the only way to defeat terrorism is to install democracy and freedom in the Middle East and throughout the world. I had issues over whether we could, in fact, impose freedom and democracy on a society existing in the seventh or eighth century and have suggested that, in all events, one cannot bomb a society into a realization that freedom is worthwhile.

A line in Mr. Bush's Address made me question the very essence of whether freedom is, in fact, anathema to terrorists and terrorism. A recent article by Pat Buchanan, a columnist whose opinions I usually decry, reinforced these doubts.

"This war," said Bush, "is an ideological struggle. ... To prevail, we must remove the conditions that inspire blind hatred and drove 19 men to get onto airplanes and to come to kill us." The President believes that the lack of freedom in the Middle East is the root cause of terrorism; he is waging his own ideological war to bring freedom in by force of arms, if necessary.

"What every terrorist fears most is human freedom - societies where men and women make their own choices."

This is a very American and Western viewpoint but, much as I deplore reaching this conclusion, terrorists do not fear free societies; they flourish in them.

The suicide bombers of 9-11, Madrid and London all plotted their atrocities in free societies. From the Red Brigades, who murdered Italy's Aldo Mori, to the Baader-Meinhoff Gang, who tried to kill Al Haig, to the Basque ETA, the IRA and the Puerto Rican terrorists who tried to assassinate Harry Truman, free societies are where they do their most effective work.

Stalin's Russia and Nazi Germany had no trouble with terrorists. Terrorists are put down and controlled by totalitarian regimes. Is this what we wish to become? Notwithstanding the Vice President and the two most recent Attorneys-General, I sincerely hope not.

"Free people are not drawn to violent and malignant ideologies," according to the President.

Perhaps, but how does this explain why 70 million Germans in 1933, under the most democratic government in their history, gave more than half their votes to Nazis and Communists ? In every plebiscite he held, Hitler won a landslide. It was only after defeat that everyday Germans discovered that each and every one was a resistance fighter!

In our own hemisphere, last year, free Latin peoples brought to power anti-American Leftists Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and came close to electing their comrades Ollanta Humala in Peru and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico.

In the free elections Bush demanded in Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, the winners were the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Hamas and Shia militants with ties to Iran. If a referendum were held in the Middle East on the proposition of the U.S. military out and Israel gone, is there any doubt as to the results of the election?

"So we advance our security interests by helping moderates, reformers and brave voices for democracy," said Bush. But how many of those "moderates" - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait, the Gulf States - are ruled "by brave voices for democracy?"

Our Islamist enemies would likely endorse unanimously a Bush call for free elections in all those countries, as elections could not but help advance to greater power, at the expense of our friends, those same Islamist enemies.

If we bleed our country to give the men and women of the Middle East the freedom to choose the society in which they want to live, are we sure they will not choose a society where Sharia is law?

In liberated Afghanistan, popular sentiment was behind beheading that Muslim who converted to Christianity.

Why do we believe that everyone wants to be like us?

The President quoted Osama bin Laden, "Death is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us."

This is the heart of the war we are in. Americans believe in freedom first. Millions of Muslims believe in Islam first - submission to Allah.

We decide for us. Do we also decide for them?

I am not certain of where this leads us, other than the realization that if put to a vote, the Middle Eastern countries, other than Israel, would choose the terrorists every time. Israel is our only friend and ally in the region and our support for that nation must be steady, secure and unwavering.

Our actions against terrorists cannot be founded in a false belief that, if only the people could choose. . . . Since reason will not work and financial bribes are not effective against the richest nations in the world, perhaps we might try fear.

For over fifty years, peace was maintained through a concept of Mutually Assured Destruction. In short, our enemies were told, clearly and definitively, that if we were attacked or if one of our allies were attacked, we would reduce the attacker to a nation or rubble, swiftly and without hesitation. This might be effective against Iran and its nuclear potential of threats against Israel and it might be effective where a nation-state is the source of the attack or threat. It would also be effective against a nation that supports terrorists financially (e.g., Saudi Arabia). We would not need troops in the Middle East, just the promise that aggressive acts would be met with sudden and complete destruction.

I do not pretend to have answers. I raise these issues to provoke insight and commentary by others.