John, our enemy is not just Al Qaeda, it is Islamism. Al Qaeda is just the biggest branch office of Islamism, and the one who most successfully accomplished what all the branches want to do: humiliate America as they feel humiliated, attack our interests, drive us out of the umma, destroy Israel, and plan for the day when, Allah willing, they will destroy us altogether.
This rise of Islamism happened at a time when a defeated but not destroyed Saddam proclaimed his survival as a triumph, and we tried to 'contain' him with no-fly zones and sactions. This is not a coincidence. As usual, Ajami hits the nail on the head:
Though no smoking gun has linked Saddam Hussein to September 11, the great, simple truth must be known that the culture of Arab radicalism, which begot the furies of that day, was nurtured by his survival in power. |
