The irrationality & recklessness of appeasing Islam

For those of you who may be queasy about the way the Bush administration is approaching and prosecuting the War on Terror, I invite you to consider, for purposes of contrast, the mindset toward foreign policy that springs from the worldview of liberalism.

Most conservatives were outraged at Amnesty International's inflammatory propaganda comparing Gitmo to a Soviet gulag. But the Left had quite a different reaction. Just as they rushed to defend the corrupt Muslim despotic regimes, and even cited their recalcitrance as evidence that the United States' position was wrong, their knee-jerk response to the Gitmo reports was to presume American culpability.

Zioneocon

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If you care to recall, Amnesty International just released its libelous and false report accusing the United States of abusing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The report came on the heels of the shamefully false Newsweek story claiming an interrogator at Guantanamo had flushed parts of the Quran down a toilet. Most conservatives were outraged at Amnesty International's inflammatory propaganda comparing Gitmo to a Soviet gulag. But the Left had quite a different reaction. Just as they rushed to defend the corrupt Muslim despotic regimes, and even cited their recalcitrance as evidence that the United States' position was wrong, their knee-jerk response to the Gitmo reports was to presume American culpability.

Nor was the Left convinced by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers' denunciation of Amnesty International's report as "absolutely irresponsible." Myers, after all, is the face of the U.S. military – and he works closely with evil Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. How can you expect the Left to believe him?

Of course, the Left was equally unpersuaded, and likely repulsed by Vice President Cheney's assurances that Gitmo detainees "have been well-treated, humanely and decently." They bristled at President Bush's characterization of the report as "absurd" and his assertion that "people who hate America" were behind it.

Enter Thomas Friedman, whose May 27 column begins, "Shut it down. Just shut it down. I am talking about the war-on-terrorism POW camp at Guantanamo Bay. Just shut it down and then plow it under."

Friedman conspicuously avoids mentioning the Amnesty International report in his column. Instead he cites the British, Australian, Canadian and German media. They are all talking about American mistreatment of prisoners, he claims. And they're our allies, he says – as if the media in those countries love us.

It's obvious that Friedman instinctively believes the terrorists over the military that we are indeed systematically torturing prisoners.

But the thrust of Friedman's argument is not the veracity of the reports of torture, but their "toxic effect on us – inflaming sentiments against the U.S. all over the world and providing recruitment energy on the Internet for those who would do us ill."

Friedman says we should put on trial the prisoners we have evidence against and "then simply let the rest go home or to a third country." Some may come back to "haunt us" Friedman admits, but "I would rather have a few more bad guys roaming the world than a whole new generation." A debatable risk, of trying to set free a few murderers, because, if you bring them to justice, there would be more criminals wanting to murder!

But, Tom, the terrorists don't need more fodder for recruitment purposes. They have plenty of ammo to generate hatred apart from spreading false stories about us. But assuming your analysis is correct, wouldn't your energy be better spent in turning it back on your comrades in the media?

If anti-American stories – whether true or not – are what stir up Arab sentiment against us, then why no outrage at Newsweek for stoking the flames of hatred among Muslims against us? Why no horror at the Left's constant depiction of President Bush as deliberately fabricating our reasons for attacking Iraq?

Friedman, like many of his colleagues on the Left, simply believe that we can talk and behave ourselves out of this war, if we can just prove to terrorists and the rest of the world that we are nice and peaceful people.

Thank God these appeasers aren't running the War on Terror. And God help us if they ever do.

Story Credits: World Net Daily

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