The willingness to use raw power won't curve the appetite for death from every fanatic, but it will put a large dent in their decision making process and especially their future recruiting effort. Joining a cause where the life expectancy is short, won't embolden that cause.
It is rational to assume that most people, most of the time, will put self-preservation first. It is most irrational to assume that all people will. Throughout history, causes both noble and perverse have drawn fanatical followers, followers that seemed to grow in eagerness as the odds against their own survival increased. That is the nature of commitment, and obsession, and its important to note that perverse causes (in our eyes) are as able to draw fanatical followers as those we call noble.
The same will be said of Muslim fanatics, once enough nations and people in the Middle East embrace the universal values of democracy, free market capitalism, rule of law and liberty.
That’s probably true, but it’s a lot farther away than some would like to believe, and there are many things that can happen between now and then.
There are also things we have to determine on our side. One of them is the question of which is more important to us, democracy or American hegemony. The Iraq experience will be an important laboratory for this one: will we support democracy in Iraq, even when it takes turns that we don’t like, or will we bail out? This remains to be seen, and I don’t see much preparation for it. A lot of people seem to assume that a democratic Iraq will naturally do as we think they ought, which is not likely. |
