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Discussion Membership
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We are the target
Bombs killed at least 62 people attending a funeral in Najaf, Iraq, but we were the target. At least 22 were killed and 50 wounded in Baghdad, but we were the target. In the face of such carnage, ask, "What is democracy worth?" along with "What is it worth to face down terrorism?" Democracy, as explained in previous editorials, codifies the humility that there may be a better way of doing things. It establishes a peaceful process for ideas to emerge, where they can be examined and re-examined. Those who follow it rise above raw jungle law where terror depends on power and luck, rather than understanding, to decide what will survive. Democracy isn't favored by the United Nations. The U.N. lacks the will to act -- as Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan demonstrate. So long as the U.N. congenitally prefers whatever leadership exists within a country to the welfare of its citizens, it will be left to others to shame the U.N. into action. Don't let other points cloud the issue. This conflict between democracy and terrorism was inevitable -- even if Saddam Hussein had not played his WMD shell game. Low level attacks have been going on for decades -- from the 1983 embassy bombings in Beirut, through Khobar Towers, the USS Cole, culminating in the 9-11 destruction. Terrorists proclaim they are fighting American hegemony but as World War II proves, Americans fought for liberty and left independence behind. Some say we now fight just to control Iraqi oil, but time will prove that wrong. Even if true, there will be opportunity to expose that later. But for now, anyone who presumes to buckle under to terrorism, ignores the damage its done so far and will do in the future. On January 9, 2005, Palestinians will elect a president. On January 30, Iraq's first election will be held. In between, expect savage and grizzly assaults. Candidates will be killed. Innocent civilians preparing to vote will be blown to bits. And we are going to have to decide how to respond. There are hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in Saddam Hussein's mass graves unable to vote. Those left alive deserve a better future, but terrorists bet that we don't have the stomach to persist. Most national news displays the wartime equivalent of ambulance-chasing. The over-the-transom, easy-to-get, body count resulting from the day's terror is emphasized at the expense of the full scope of why, distateful as it is, the fight might be worthwhile. Both the destruction and what is being fought for deserve to be reported clearly and in perspective. Afghanistan recently completed its first election but didn't receive anything close to the coverage of the last improvised explosive device or suicide bomb. Step-by-step, an Iraq that inches its way forward is a beacon that challenges the oppression of neighbors like Iran. Where is the coverage of that? What place should tyrants and terrorists have in this world? Why would we tolerate them? They will fail, but only if we resolve to be certain that they do. We are the target.
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