War on Terror: Part II

In Part I, I began a discussion of the war on terror. This is a continuation of that discussion.

So, the war on terror has resulted in the elimination, at least temporarily of two major state sponsors of terror. We will never be able to declare victory in this war unless there are no state sponsors of terror.

State sponsorship of terror is the most illegitimate element of state craft. The basic modus operandi is the for state to engage in training, funding, and arming terror organizations and or terrorists. They use the protection of sovereign borders to project power and or chaos at their perceived enemies. They pass intelligence and give "recommendations" for operations and or targets. They fail to prosecute or extradite terrorists living within their borders. In the worst cases, they organize domestic shows of support and celebration for the terrorists' heinous acts.

In an earlier post on this Blog, I provided a series of URLs that outline Saddam Hussein's shameful support of terrorists and terrorist activities. We all know that bin Laden and his band were sheltered by the Taliban. What of Syria and Iran.

Syria is clearly linked to most, if not all, of the major Palestinian terrorist groups. Syria argues that these are freedom fighters. But when in world history have freedom fighters strapped explosives to their bodies and detonated on city buses, in discotheques, or in pizza parlors, carrying innocent women and children. The "leaders" of Hamas for example have long lived in Syria, in wealth and comfort denied their followers, under the protection of the Syrian government. The same government that has assassinated politicians in Lebanon, allowed terrorists to gather in their territory preparing for attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, and supported Hezbollah.

Iran has conducted itself even more deplorably. Iran created Hezbollah, trains Hezbollah, arms them, feeds them, clothes them, etc. Hezbollah is poorly named, it is not an Army of God, it is the Iranian Army in Lebanon. Iran and Hezbollah have acted to disrupt the region and create chaos. Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any other terror organization except al Qaeda. Substract the 9-11 attacks and Hezbollah is leading terrorist killer of Americans.

It is most troublesome to recognize the points of contact between Hezbollah and al Qaeda. A little research on the web will show the interested surfer that Hezbollah had a hand in the Khobar tower bombing, that a suspected al Qaeda terror cell in Portland, Oregon had a Hezbollah member. That many of the IEDs killing our soldiers in Iraq are unmistakingly of Hezbollah design.

One terrible misunderstanding on the part of many people here in the States, is that the war on terror is really a war on al Qaeda. The Democrats' often use rhetoric to support this misunderstanding. They have concluded that it helps them politically. But the war on terror will never be over unless organizations like Hezbollah are rendered impotent. That begins and ends with their state sponsors.

In the run up to the 2004 general election, the Democrats and their nominee pressed relentlessly on a single view-- that Iraq was a diversion and or a distraction from the war on terror. In fact, my view of the 2004 DNC national convention was that it was a four day argument that Iraq was not part of the war on terror.

The Republican reply was impotent. In fact, there was really only one speech at the 2004 GOP national convention that attempted to rebut the Democrat critique (the GOP convention was held after the DNCs). That speech was given by Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The Bush campaign never found a credible voice to connect the two. Even after winning the election, President Bush was unable, despite several attempts, to convincingly tie Iraq to the war on terror.

This state of affairs continues to the present day. Congresswoman Nan Pelosi (D - California) has stated that she believes we need to pull troops out of Iraq for redeployment to Afghanistan in pursuit of bin Laden. The President and most Republicans have remained unyielding in the face of the withering Democratic attack, but have still not found a voice to explain to the public why Iraq is part of the war on terror. Why Iraq matters, and why our troops there matter.

This situation has become nearly untenable. If it continues for the next 18 months as it has the last 3 years, the Republicans will have no chance in the 2008 election and the Democrats will take power. Neither side has shown an adequate understanding of the situation. Neither side has shown as adequate grasp of strategy.

In Part III, I will give some recommendations for a way forward.