Before we lose all perspective on the war on terrorism, I think it’s important to remember who started it. In our zeal to place the blame on the turmoil emanating from the Middle East on ourselves, we would do well to remember who attacked whom. Does this fifth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon make those events so far in the “past” that we have forgotten who flew the planes filled with innocent people into those buildings? If my memory serves, it was Islamic extremists who took over the planes. Prior to 9/11 the only attacks made by these religious fanatics had been in their part of the world. After 9/11 we learned, to our sorrow, that anyone willing to die for Allah will be able to do it – here or anywhere – and take hundreds, or perhaps, thousands of innocent lives with him.

Once all the finger-pointing is over, once the “blame game” has run its course, the truth of the matter is there’s only one way to solve the problem caused by Islamic extremism and that’s to take the war on terrorism to them, find them, and eliminate them. That’s a very polite way to make the point that we’d better kill them before they try to do the same to us. All the hand-wringing and 1960s-vintage anti-war stuff will not solve the problem. Rounding up or eliminating Islamic extremists in their training camps, in their hiding places, in their sleeper cells – wherever they are is the only permanent solution to the problem. That sounds harsh, but we’re opposed by an enemy that is as cruel as any we’ve ever faced, and perhaps even more fanatical.

There’s been a lot of debate recently over ethnic profiling at our airports in an attempt to identify individuals who could pose a threat to commercial air travel. Let’s be honest about this situation; young men and women who “look” like they’re from the Middle East are the ones to watch, not the little white-haired grandmas from Cleveland. I can almost hear the outrage and indignation from our friends on the left who will contend that ethnic profiling is discriminatory – and they’re right! It is discriminatory, but so what? If stopping a young Moslem for questioning is discrimination, then so be it – at least until Islamic extremists are no longer a threat to public safety. Ethnic profiling stopped the plot by some 24 would-be terrorists in England. If they hadn’t been stopped outside the airport, there’s no way airport security screening systems could have found the liquid explosives they were planning to take on board. Would those chemicals have shown up on any of the baggage screening devices? Nope! And it certainly doesn’t make sense to keep an eye on everyone going into every airport. The only way it can be done is ethnic profiling – by checking the people who look the part!

Ah-hah, you counter, the Pakistanis who were rounded up by British police were British citizens! So what? They or their parents were from Pakistan – they looked the part, despite the fact that they were citizens of Great Britain. Others have suggested that the best way to deal with the problem is to encourage us to “turn-in” people we suspect of being terrorists. Well, that would be fine, but it’s not going to be an effective substitute for profiling.

The sad part is that it will be impossible to keep terrorists willing to die away from every plane, every bridge, every port, every shopping mall, and every train and subway in this country. It isn’t possible to check every bag put into every cargo hold on every plane or ship that comes to this country, ethnic profiling or not. And if that’s true, it’s only a matter of time until we have another horrific day like Sept. 11 to face in this country. Therefore, what would you like to do? Shall we wait peacefully for it to happen? Shall we lift our heads from the rubble waving our tattered peace signs at the terrorists?

Shall we try to sit and reason with them in hopes that they’ll come to Jesus and cast aside their twisted beliefs? It would be nice if every would-be Islamic terrorist would do just that, but it’s not going to happen. What’s more likely to happen is while we’re trying to convert the terrorists, they’ll be setting off a bomb concealed under their clothes. The long bloody conflict between Islamic extremists and the rest of the world has been going on for centuries and it’s not going to stop now.

So, with what are we left? The only option I see is hunting them down and eliminating or capturing them. As I have written before, we have to make the price of even thinking about becoming a terrorist so high that none will choose that path again. In the meantime, playing by the rules of civilized society probably won’t work. And if we don’t have the will to take harsh action, my bet would be Islamic terrorists won’t even think twice about killing as many of us as they can.

Think about it.

That’s —30— for this week.



Watch for Paul Barada Mondays in the Rushville Republican. Add a comment at www.rushvillerepublican.com.