Professor William O. Beeman

There was another column by Professor Beeman of Brown University in the Providence Journal the other day. He often has columns published in the Journal, and they all have the same message regardless of what part of the Middle East he is addressing: we shouldn’t get too upset about the fact that the Islamacists want to kill us because they have some grievances arising out of mistakes made by western powers in the past.

These thoughts by liberal journalists and college professors are not helpful.

Yes, Britain created many of the problems we are trying to cope with in Iraq when it created a country with three peoples historically hostile to one another.

Yes, France created many of the problems in Syria and Lebanon because of the way it ruled the area for years.

Yes, we created hard feelings with Iran when we regarded Mossadegh as an unacceptable ally of the old Soviet Union when they were our main concern, and yes, it caused hard feelings when we supported Saddam in his war against Iran.

Yes, the Islamacists hate us for supporting the right of Israel to live in peace in the tiny country they occupy in the midst of those whose only desire is to kill them all and eradicate their country.

Yes, yes, yes. These helpful reminders from liberals tell us not to be too harsh with the tiger since he only wants to eat us because he is hungry. I say to liberals, wake up; we have to deal with the situation as it exists today, and we have to take whatever steps are necessary to defend ourselves and our culture from barbarians who want to kill us all and drive the world back to the seventh century.

The Bush Administration strategy in the war on terrorism is to capture or kill and disarm the terrorists while encouraging friendly relations with peaceful Muslims and the development of democracy in the Arab world. It is the only strategy that makes any sense. When critics point to the problems in Iraq, I would point out that there have been hundreds of times in our history when events looked bleak, from the Revolution to 1812 to the Civil War, Kasserine Pass, Guadalcanal, the Bulge and Anzio. We have always won out because we persevered and did whatever it took. Today we are faced with the longest and, possibly, our toughest fight of all time. If we unite and stick it out, we will probably win. If we continue to be divided, we might easily lose our freedom, our way of life, our standard of living, our country and our lives.