SOLO-International Op-Ed: 9/11, Appeasement, Obama bin Biden ... and  Objectivist Freedom-Lovers

Lindsay Perigo

September 11, 2008

The anniversary of the attack on America by demented zealots demonstrating that those who believe absurdities commit atrocities is an occasion for their appeasers to examine themselves.

Winston Churchill long ago observed that no stronger retrograde force exists in the world than Islam. At a different time in history the same could have been said of Christianity, but by the time Churchill made his comment, that particular superstition was substantially "sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled ..."

Presciently, Churchill warned that "Mohammedanism" was "far from moribund." 102 years later, 9/11 showed this was still the case. President Bush responded with Churchillian rhetoric: no safe havens, pursue them to the ends of the earth, you're either with us or with the terrorists, etc. He took out the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and sought out Osama bin Laden, "dead or alive." He then moved against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Taking him out was a doddle, but was also the cue for every variant of Muslim fanaticism, including Osama's proxies and the Iranians, to converge on Iraq and make it the crucible of their global Jihad against the West. "We tell the worshipper of the cross [the pope] that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya. God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the Mujahideen," said Al Qaeda in Iraq at one point.

Within the ramparts of Western Civilization, the insidious voices of appeasement, emboldened by the failure of Coalition forces to find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq (mistakenly, the primary justification offered for going in), grew louder. Treasonous Democrats and scabrous state-worshipping celebrities like Michael Moore blamed Bush for the carnage wrought by a studiously bloodthirsty enemy. Perversely, some freedom-lovers of the Objectivist variety who wanted Bush to fight harder urged voters to support those who would stop him fighting altogether. They got their wish in the Congressional elections of 2006, when the Democrats captured both Houses.

Bush's own generals went wobbly, fixating on how to get out rather than how to win. Fortunately, the Commander-in-Chief was made of sterner stuff. He sent in David Petraeus — and 30,000 more troops, in the teeth of fierce opposition from the Democrats and the Pentagon. As quoted in a new book by Bob Woodward, he told a third party: "I just want Dave [Petraeus] to know that I want to win. And whatever he needs, obviously within capabilities, he'll have. I don't want my commander to think that they're dealing with a president who's so overly concerned about the latest Gallup poll or politics that he is worried about making a decision or recommendation that will make me feel uncomfortable."

Today, 9/11/08, with Al Qaeda in Iraq vanquished and the home-grown nuttery subdued, Democratic presidential nominee Obama and his running mate Biden are, with unbelievable gall and hypocrisy, trying to claim the credit — to exploit  the results of the Surge they opposed, including the drawdown it has made feasible, to vindicate their policy of appeasement. Obama has also said he'll sit down without conditions and talk to terrorist leaders and sponsors. In the equation, "You're either with us or with the terrorists," it's clear enough where the Obama bin Biden duo sit. To vote for them — or, I submit, to refrain from voting against them — is to sit in the same place.

Western Civilization, while magnificent, is not yet what it might be and ought to be, to be sure. It and its mainstream champions, such as Bush and McCain, are contaminated by lingering Christianity, to be equally sure. But McCain in particular will not turn the other cheek. And the imperfections of its leaders are no excuse to assist Western Civilization's enemies. It ill-behoves those of us who seek the realization of its full potential, the unbridled flowering of reason and freedom, to facilitate its destruction before that can happen.

ends

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