what cannot be permitted
By Reed Hundt | bio
From: Foreign Affairs
Failing to find the leadership of Al Qaeda cannot be tolerated. The savage attacks in London, the even more murderous Madrid bombings, the never-to-be forgotten 9/11 assaults speak many terrible things, and not all hear the same messages. But no one in the civilized world (that plainly includes Muslims, Christians, Jews and people of all other faiths and creeds) can possibly tolerate the fact that Osama has not yet been apprehended.
There have been many powerful reasons not to mount a very large multinational military incursion in the region where Osama has long been located. These reasons are no longer, if they ever were, sufficient to block such an incursion. The governments of the countries where he and his killing crew are located must tolerate the intervention because they lack the policing power to do the job themselves. Indeed, they should welcome the assistance, but whether they do or not, the intervention has to happen. Questions have to be answered in a serious, pragmatic manner -- who sends troops, who pays, how long do they stay, where do they go, what means do they use, who commands. These questions can all be answered with calm and deliberation and yet without delay. They must be answered. Saying we have to finish another war in another country, complaining we cannot afford to do this job right now, dithering -- none of those responses is suitable to the moment, or even logical. Justice must be done and that means apprehending the criminals of London, Madrid and 9/11, starting at the top.
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