A STRATEGIC VIEW OF TERROR

Taken from a speech...you should read the whole thing.

Misjudging our resolve, on September 11th the terrorists pushed the envelope considerably further Ð and they were surprised by our response. Newt Gingrich, who I believe is of the most astute observers of national security issues, defined the post-September 11th transformation in five different ways, as follows:

1) Globalization applies to national security. In other words "if we are not there, they will be over here."

2) The issues are non-negotiable. These people hate us and they feel good if we die.

3) Weapons of mass destruction change everything. We are dealing with a terrifying capacity to kill. It forces us to change our strategy from containment to preemption. The kind of devastation and destruction that once resulted from years of battle now can be unleashed in hours.

4) Islamist extremists are our strategic competitors and Al Qaeda is but a symptom.

5) The nature of the attacks on us can change dramatically. Our very strengths can become our weaknesses. A stadium holding 100,000 people becomes a target and an airplane becomes a lethal weapon.

Terrorism has become the enemy's choice for engaging us. Unlike traditional wars where the targets are military, the terrorist seeks out civilians. What Americans and Israelis call collateral damage is the primary objective of the terrorist. And it is a fact that most of these terrorists, although not all, are Islamists...

Every terrorist has a grievance - whether it is the Chechens, Al Qaeda or Hamas. One cannot legitimize the terrorism of one group and reject the terrorism of another group. If you can target Israeli civilians then you can target Indian civilians and you can also target Spanish civilians.

There are three kinds of terrorists - state-sponsored, groups unrelated to states and individuals or small groups with grievances.

In state-sponsored terrorism we must go after the sponsor, whether it be Iraq, Iran or Syria. There need to be consequences for sponsoring those who would kill and main the innocent...

And we have to remember that a single individual with a vial of bacteria can create an act of terror. John Mohammed and Lee Boyd Malvo, the Washington snipers, were not traditional terrorists. But their actions demonstrated how two people, lone wolves, could terrorize a city.

The free world has to battle terrorism. That is why America's action against Iraq was justified and important. It sent a message.

Similar messages have to be sent to places like Saudi Arabia, which still finances most terrorist groups throughout the world. They are the financiers of madrassas that teach the gospel of hate. As you know, there is a growing feeling in Washington that we have been apologizing for the Saudis for too long.