Tuesday, October 9, 2001

Retaliatory attacks justified
Commentary by Tyler Vincent

The bombings against al-Qaeda and the Taliban Sunday marked the beginning of an offensive—an offensive in which we are fighting an enemy with no geographic boundaries, no capital city and, in some cases, no central location.

It is the beginning of a daunting battle in which our nation will be forced to make sacrifices. Not just in terms of comforts, but of the lives of both our fellow countrymen and the men and women who have answered the ultimate call of serving our country in our various armed forces.

This is a war we must wage, and the bombing of Afghanistan was the right thing to do.

First, it is the right thing to do because if we are to keep referring to ourselves as the greatest nation on the face of the earth, then it is morally irresponsible of us to sit by and watch our citizens be slaughtered in cold blood in Washington, New York and western Pennsylvania, and only respond by talking about change.

Let there be no mistake, there are portions of American foreign policy that are wrong, downright despicable and must be subjected to change. While some may believe that we should re-evaluate our policies, it is utterly irresponsible for them to suggest that a mere re-tooling of our priorities will prevent these monsters from carrying out their unspeakable plans against anyone who doesn’t agree with them, or their narrow, unfounded interpretation of their faith.

Those who protest our response to the Sept. 11 attacks have it backward. We have done bad things in the world. But Osama bin Laden, his cohorts and his supporters in the Taliban do far worse things to their country, their women and their religion.

Second, it is the right thing to do for the great religion of Islam.

As Northern Illinois University political science professor Larry Arnhart has written, the purpose of this war is not to attack Islam, but to liberate Islam from the clutches of Jihadistan, the various terrorist organizations stretching from North Africa to Indonesia that adhere to a strict, perverted view of Islam.

For too long, Islam has been unjustifiably held hostage by fanatics in the eyes of the world. The true, peaceful Muslim has unfairly been tied to images of fanatical, anti-Western, bigoted hate-mongers. And the price of these associations has not gone unnoticed. For our Muslim and Arab-American population has felt at least a certain amount of discomfort that their fellow citizens will discriminate against or assault them because the good name of Islam is being dragged through the mud by fringe groups.

The great divorce of the true Islamic faith from the evils of Jihadistan must begin now.

The war on terrorism, if fought correctly, will do that.

Third and most importantly, this battle must be fought to ensure freedom for ourselves and our posterity in the future, not only in America, but around the world.

This is more than empty rhetoric. Bin Laden and his cohorts in the Taliban believe that theirs is the only interpretation of the Islamic faith that is correct, that theirs is the only true service to God and that theirs is only one true way to run a country.

They have murdered fellow Muslims because their interpretation differed from that of the Taliban. They have passed judgment that women should be nothing more than empty, sub-human beings. Those in the Jihadistan have waged terrorist acts on Muslim countries that do not adhere to their perverse standards of their faith.

If they are not stopped, they will move on until they topple this great nation and the rest of the world. They will continue to attack the United States, and no changes to policy will alter their goal. If we do not stop them now, they, an already formidable opponent, will be a severe problem for our children.

We cannot sit around and leave for our children an environment where they worry if the location they are in suddenly will explode or be shot at. The scourge of bin Laden, the Taliban and Jihadistan must be eliminated not by diplomacy but by sheer brute force.

Or in the words of columnist P.J. O’Rourke: “GIVE WAR A CHANCE!”

Tyler Vincent is a columnist for the Northern Star for Northern Illinois University. This story was distributed by U-Wire.