OK, Who Wants to Be Next?
John L. Perry
Nov. 26, 2001
By the time this gets written and read, the Taliban should be history and, with a little bit of luck, Osama bin Laden dog meat.
Whether his worldwide mycelium of al-Qa'ida cowards still has any venom, fangs or even a pit to hiss in is a matter of uninformed conjecture, certain to engage the unoccupied minds of celebrity mediahood. But there's no doubt the Afghan phase of the 21st century War on Terrorism is accomplished.
Incidentally, thank you very much, George W. Bush.
The Line Forms Now
The question now before the house of every American is: Who's next on the list to be eradicated?
Oh, you don't think so? If not, you're not alone.
The chorus of doubters, handwringers, scaredy-pants and peace mongers has just begun to rise from the steaming dung heap of blame-America leftists who, having been bereft of anything to defame Bush about since the Eleventh of September, are desperately seizing this juncture in national security as the gulch in which to ambush their president.
Here's what you're going to be hearing in the days immediately ahead:
Giddy with his unpredicted (by them) swift and overwhelming victory in Afghanistan, Bush already has his gun loaded, cocked and aimed right at Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
Let all devoutly hope so who cherish freedom and want to spare this nation a bloody war of mass destruction on the American homeland soil. Not the giddy part. The loaded, cocked and aimed part.
Anyone who thinks Saddam isn't ready to wage such a desperation war against the United States, as soon as he feels he can even halfway get away with it, was hatched from an ostrich egg.
Like two-plus-two and the Grand Canyon, that is one of the world's undisputable fundamentals.
Oh, but Bush sneaked this camel in under the tent while no one was looking.
Hogwash. The president laid it right on the line right after the Eleventh of September attack on America. This is war, he told the nation, and the nation agreed. No polls necessary. Just ask your neighbor.
The president told Congress – even sent word to the United Nations, as if anyone gives a hoot – that the war is against terrorism, beginning with bin Laden, al-Qa'ida and the Taliban and extending to any nation or individual who harbors, finances or supports terrorism.
No, going after Saddam is not a sneaky surprise; it is a logical, justifiable, inevitable imperative.
Oh, but Bush cannot do this, you see, because it will unravel his coalition and leave him with his pants down around his ankles.
Coalition? Coalition? What coalition? Sure, on paper the list of America's "allies" in the Afghan phase of the war is impressive. However, pull down the calculator's lever and the numbers are downright unimpressive.
Truth is, Uncle Sam has been fighting and paying for Phase Afghan, while the allies, for the most part, have been peeking from behind the fence to see if it's safe to come out.
There is no coalition to unravel, not then, not now, not in the future. America is effectively alone in this world. Considering the company, there are worse spots to be in.
There is only one force on the face of this planet that has the resources and the will to take on and defeat terrorism, and it is the sole remaining super power: the United States of America. Not a one of the other nations, or any combination of the others, has what it takes.
(That shows just how cockeyed stupid bin Laden was when he sent his one-way pilots slamming into U.S. real estate. He succeeded in taking on the one giant available who could step on him like a cockroach.
(If bin Laden's goal really was to destroy Western Civilization and turn history back to the 12th century, he would have stood a better chance by picking off Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Iceland one at a time rather than sticking his finger where he stuck it.)
Oh, but if the United States attacks Iraq, it would be "unilateralist" and contrary to the spirit of global village-ism.
You'd better believe it, Hillary.
And, despite how that sounds, it is the only way all the lesser nations of Western Civilization are going to come out of this War on Terrorism with their skins still on.
If that wrinkles their psyches, tough. They can tell it to their analysts.
Oh, but the "Arab street" will rise up against America.
So?
That, according to the same blame-America-firsters, was what was supposed to happen the moment the first U.S. bomb was dropped on Afghanistan's Taliban.
And, sure enough, for the first few days, while it still seemed that the United States was pulling its punches as non-Taliban Afghans were milling around waiting for someone to go "poof!" and turn them into a legit government, locals in assorted Islamic states were, on cue, clogging streets and uttering bad words.
When U.S. bombs began falling like the leaves of autumn and the Taliban heroes (who had promised to wipe out America if it messed with their sandbox) took off in every which direction like so many scalded cats, you could fire a Gatling gun down that celebrated Arab street and hit neither man nor beast.
One of the clearest lessons learned from the war in Afghanistan is that the Islamic rabble may not revere the United States, but they have an almighty respect for its ability to use force and win.
The second verity is: The last place those folks want to wind up is on the losing side where America is concerned.
Oh, but if Bush goes after Saddam it will make the "moderate Arab" states unhappy and destabilize the Arab world.
So?
If happiness for those corrupt, dictatorial sheiks is an unbridled Saddam Hussein cooking up and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, let them know a little grief in life.
Destabilize the Arab world?
What part of the whole world is more unstable right now than the Arab portion? What else do the media handwringers safe inside the Washington Beltway think is causing the civilized world so much pain right now?
Oh, but those are oil-producing states, and they can cut off our energy supply.
Really? And sell it to whom else? The United States is already the largest customer of Arab oil. Can those states make up for the loss of that by increasing sales to Sri Lanka and Mauritania?
Oil is the only export product of any consequence for those Arab states. What else do they have to offer? Sandbags and dried dates? Goats' milk and camel chips?
No, those "moderate" Arab bigwigs won’t enjoy it when Bush (the junior) makes war on Iraq in a way his daddy didn't. But they won't be taking their business anyplace else.
Oh, but someone will get killed.
Yes, and maimed and mutilated and disfigured and widowed and orphaned. And that is, indeed, a terrible, terrible thing.
It also happens to be what war is, which so many on American television cannot seem to grasp.
A war of self defense – and that is precisely what this War on Terrorism is – is a hideous price to pay in human life and treasure. But not to fight to save America from terrorism is a hundred-thousandfold more costly in the long run.
Don't anyone kid yourself. The destruction of America is precisely what Osama bin Laden contemplated, and precisely what Saddam Hussein still contemplates. Whom else do you think Saddam has been storehousing all those instruments of mass death for other than the United States? French Guiana?
Oh, but Bush doesn't have a mandate to do this.
Oh, but he most certainly does. He got it on the Eleventh of September. The American people gave it to him and Congress agreed.
Oh, but he will use up every last bit of his political capital.
Ridiculous. There is no such thing as unexpended political capital. Political capital exists only if it is exercised – and in such a way that dramatic, creative, welcome leadership is demonstrated in the process.
That's what Bush has been doing every day since the Eleventh of September.
That's why he has this nation more behind him than any other wartime president in the history of this great nation.
When he leads this nation to war against the terrorism of Saddam Hussein, he will have even-greater popular support – if such is possible.
Step Right Up
The only pertinent question now is: After Osama bin Laden, after Saddam Hussein, who wants to be next?
If there are any takers, let them raise their hand.
That is how the War on Terrorism will be waged – combating terrorism with the horror of overwhelming military might. And that is how it will be won.
For it is the only way, and Americans are the only people on Earth who can wage it and win it.
John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for NewsMax.com.
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