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Thursday, February 08, 2007
Jeff Emanuel :: Townhall.com Columnist
All is not quiet on the Western Front of the War on Terror
by Jeff Emanuel
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Were this plot successful – like the Canadian plot before it – then all of that would change, and a genuine panic would likely take hold. These arrests backed up the warning issued just before Christmas by Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, director-general of MI5, that “terrorist cells are active in mainland Britain” – a fact already supported by her recent disclosure that MI5 currently has 3,000 agents investigating approximately 200 separate plots, involving 1,600 young British Muslims.

Lest anybody get the wrong idea about the sensitivity of the British government, though, the West Midlands Police department released a statement Wednesday, which comfortingly informed a concerned public that the police were “mindful that communities, locations or individuals don’t become a target as a result of recent events,” and added, “Hate crime will not be tolerated, and we will take robust action where necessary.”

In all seriousness, though, the existence of this plot should reinforce to all of us, whether in Britain or safely (for now) in the United States, the very real – and very current – threat posed by the radical Islamists who still, five years after 9/11, wish to kill us all. Despite the best intentions of the peace-first crowd, concessions will not work. The only currency known to our enemy is strength, and any other recourse will not be seen as an act of good faith, but as an act of supreme weakness – and will not bring about a peaceful end, but will encourage more violence on the part of those who oppose us.

It is not for the sake of political victory, or of permanent alliance, that we must now band together and support both our country and our soldiers and police as they take the fight to the enemy; rather, it is for the sake of our very survival. The enemy – declared to be so by their actions, not by our whim – has shown again and again that they have the will to fight on, against soldiers and civilians alike, as long as it takes to wear down and defeat us.

Do we have the will to fight back, and to overcome those who will be appeased by no end but total victory or total defeat?

Do we have a choice?

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About The Author
Jeff Emanuel, a Special Operations military veteran, is a Leadership fellow with the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of Georgia, where he also studies Classics. In addition, he is a contributing editor for conservative web log RedState.com, and is a columnist for the Athens, GA Banner-Herald newspaper.

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(16 comments so Far)
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Reply # 1
Date: Feb 9, 2007 - 10:38 PM EST
Plenty of courage, but wrong conviction
Jimmy said, "The Western Right lacks the courage of its convictions."

Indeed. I certainly agree. Our convictions used to be to our Republic and our Constitution. It appears that there are a lot of people so focused on the Muslims that they do not see that their own country is being overthrown, from within.

Have you read the Patriot Acts?

Have you read the Military Commission Act? Do you understand that this applies to American citizens too? This one bill attempts to nullify most of the Bill of Rights.

How about John Warner's Defense Authorization Act of 2007? It's not all about appropriations.... it allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder."

What do you think about the fact that our U.S. Atty General appears to believe that the Constitution does not guarantee habeas corpus for American citizens?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/24/MNGDONO11O1.DTL

Do you think that an individual who does not know what the 4th Amendment to the Constitution is, should be the Director of the CIA? Watch it yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGhcECnWRGM

Here is what Bruce Fein, who is a Constitutional scholar who served in Reagan's administration has to say about all this:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0610.fein.html


Is this what you want?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP_M8s0GFEc&eurl=

Or, do you think it can't happen to YOU?

Our borders are wide open. Do you not think that if they cared one flip about our national security, that they would have secured these borders??? Our legislators, on both sides of the aisle, have made it quite clear that they plan on giving the illegal aliens, amnesty. Steps have and are being taken to combine the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a North American Union. Do you understand? That means, we will no longer have a sovereign nation. Our Constitution will be history.
http://www.eagleforum.org/topics/NAU/

Is this what you want? Because it is in fact, happening, while your eyes are being diverted to the Middle East.

I weep for my country.

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Reply # 2
Date: Feb 9, 2007 - 5:20 PM EST
Defeat now or defeat later
The timing is irrelevant. The Islamicists are committed, the West is not. The endgame is already clear. The Western Left is, at best, completely ambivalent about the threat, and at worst, actively assists the enemy. The Western Right lacks the courage of its convictions.

Until the West gets its own house in order, something which it will never even attempt to do, the endgame is preordained.

More's the pity, but hey, we've got Tivos, iPods, and Anna Nicole to divert our attention.
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