The Failure of Success

Rudy Giuliani basked in the New York-ness of it all. The glitz, the glamour, the over-the-top Party partying don't look out of place in the Big Apple, and Giuliani welcomed his Party to his city with open arms. He then went on to speak boldly and firmly about Bush and Kerry and how he perceives there stance on terrorism. And he became one of the first people in a high-profile speech to bring a note of hope to the war on terror, saying, "We’ll see an end to global terrorism. I can see it. I believe it. I know it will happen."

Rudy, I'm not so sure. In fact, it frightens me that this attitude might catch on, and bring with it a hard-line, massive-retaliation approach such as we saw at the beginning of the Cold War. Taking the position that terrorism can be destroyed like Nazi Germany or nationalist Serbia is dangerous if it doesn't reflect truth, because it will lead us to irrationally rigid and overbearing actions, and ultimately to create more enemies, more terrorists.

I mentioned a few posts ago that some of my right-wing friends think Israel is an example of success against terrorism and should thus be emulated. It's probably true that Israel has broken up more terrorist attacks than the rest of the world put together. But as tragic events like today's have shown, even 95% (or whatever) effectiveness against a host of potential enemies is less effective than making peace with your enemies.

Right-wingers hold up Israel as an example of success against terror; I hold up Denmark.