Prince Andrew of New York -- July 30, 2001

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Prince Andrew of New York -- July 30, 2001

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26 / THEWEEKLYSTANDARD

ing Superpower

to Þght back against terrorism.

Cole, yet Washington still has not responded. Our fear is pure oxygen to Islamic militants. Every alert, particularly when it panics U.S. military and diplomatic personnel, sends an adrenaline rush into the central nervous system of men truly convinced that with GodÕs help and the right explosives they can crack the will of the inÞdels who are, in their eyes, destroying the one true faith. Secretary of defense Donald RumsfeldÕs decision to yank the Marines out of Jordan is, when viewed from the mud-brick and cinder-block ghettos of the Middle East, an extraordinary triumph, further proof that the martyrs of theColeattack died gloriously. AmericaÕs military leaders r maythink that theyÕre being prudent with our soldiers; the average man in the streets of Amman certainly knows bet-ter. Terrorism is war by unconventional means. Its ultimate objective is the psychological debilitation of the enemy through fear. In the Þght against terrorism, the U.S. mili-taryÕs ever-more exclusive focus on Òforce protectionÓ diminishes the awe in which America is held abroad, the ultimate guarantor of the safety of U.S. civilians and sol-diers, especially in lands where hostility to the West rests near the surface. Martyrdom has a long and complex history in the Mus-lim world. It began with GodÕs promise of paradise to the seventh-century warriors who died expanding the Þrst Islamic state. Over the centuries, rules and understandings evolved about the pivotal difference between combatants and civilians, but these have evaporated in the fundamen-talistsÕ radical modernity, which divides the world cleanly and brutally between good and evil. If we want to play hardball with Islamic militantsÑand the Bush administra-tion isnÕt spending billions of dollars on counterterrorism to be niceÑwe need to pay more attention to the history and metaphysics of Islamic extremism. In other words, we need to take bin LadenÕs men apart psychologically. Cut-ting off the ßow of oxygen to the Muslim worldÕs anti-American radicals isnÕt an impossible task, so long as we patiently hold our ground. ialist in the Centralsama bin Laden and his men are, or at least U tive at the Project foraspire to be, contemporary ÒAssassins,Ó the der the pseudonymmedieval founding fathers of modern political pyÕs Journey intoterrorism, who from their mountain redoubts in Iran and Syria Þrst showed the possibilities of purposeful, disci-

JULY30, 2001

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