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International
Mark Steyn on when it'll be over
2001-11-01
  • It will be over when Osama bin Laden and his closest colleagues are dead, al-Qa’eda is destroyed, the Taleban are removed, Saddam Hussein is overthrown, and the House of Saud has had its collective genitals squeezed and been persuaded to exile those princes who’ve been kissing up to terrorists. This is a fight for America, not for an abstract principle. America’s immediate objective in Afghanistan is destroying the Taleban. A benign, social democratic coalition government would be a nice bonus, but to fret about it now will only get in the way of bombing Mullah Omar’s donkey cart.

    For a month now, the administration has gone the Colin Powell route — restrained warfare, multinational mumbo-jumbo, would-you-like-the-chicken-or-beef? — and the result has been jeers all round from Mary Robinson, the aid agencies, the European press, Tony Blair’s backbenchers and at least some of his Cabinet. This is not an audience worth playing to. And the only audience that does matter — America’s more equivocal ‘friends’ in the Arab world — respects might far more than Halal McNuggets. It’s time to stop trying to be liked and to start trying to be feared. (The Spectator Mark Steyn)
    The quicker and more thoroughly the war in Afghanistan is won, the quicker we can attend to the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, while hanging Talebs. Holding back will actually be more painful for both sides in the long run. As for the concerns of the "Arab street," why are we more obligated to consider their sensibilities than they are to consider ours?
    • Posted by:Fred Pruitt

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