No more moral equivilents

(Via Jerry Pournelle)

Gary Kasparov (yes, THE Gary Kasparov of chess fame) has some very interesting things to say on the attempts to draft some sort of “moral equivilency” framework for the War on Terror (a phrase he dislikes, by the way).

He’s makes some interesting points. Some I’ve made in the blog, some just talking to people:

• That the enemy is distributed widely, but can be found and identifed with ease.
• Most of the media is on the side of the enemy. (Now there’s a surprise!)
• This war is not about religion. It’s about an entrenched hatred for the West. The enemy can not, I repeat CAN NOT, be negotiated with.

The last two paragraphs need to be quoted in their entirety:

Every era dictates its own political divisions. In 19th century Great Britain, the political fight centered on the Corn Laws, reform bills and home rule for Ireland. Many of the old splits have vanished in Europe but this new divide is both wider and more vital. Jacques Chirac on the right is against intervention while Labour’s Tony Blair is for it. The consequences of José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero caving in after the Madrid attack have yet to be felt, but I have no doubt that we will be facing more attacks in Europe based on the terrorists’ reading of the weakness of European leaders.

In this fight the enemy does not play by our rules, or by any rules at all. WMD will be in terrorist hands eventually; conventional wisdom recognizes this reality. Concessions and negotiations at best only delay catastrophe. Europe and its people are in this war whether they acknowledge it or not. Those who would appease terrorists must realize that by pretending that this battle does not exist, they will soon have blood on their hands–both real and metaphorical.

Right now, despite everything the media/liberal politicians are whining about “torture of prisoners” and “quagmire”, we are winning. There have been no terrorist attacks on US soil since 9-11. I believe this is due to the fact that, despite some of our obvious lunacy in some areas of security (the TSA is a shining example), we’ve shown that we are now a much tougher nut to crack. Perhaps more importantly, we have demonstrated that we will hit them back, and do it in a big way. As Toby Keith says, “We’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American Way…”

Europe, with the execption of Great Britain, has shown otherwise, especially in Spain, though Italy is now starting to make the same noises. How long will it be until our anti-Western enemy decides to strike where we are weak–in Europe? When it happens, how bad will it be? And most importantly, will the Europeans finally get the joke?