Edwards Calls for U.S. To Address the Cause of Terrorism

In a preview of what will be a major, if not the major issue, of the 2008 Presidential Campaign, John Edwards attacked former Rudy Giuliani in New York on Thursday, for backing the anti-terror policies of President George W. Bush. According to Reuters, Edwards said that it was not enough to talk tough on terrorism without addressing its causes.

It is possible, perhaps likely, that neither Edwards, nor Giuliani will represent their respective parties in the 2008 election. [As anyone who regularly reads this blog already knows, we are backing Mitt Romney in his quest for the GOP nomination.] However, there is no question that Edwards has correctly framed the inter-party debate, regardless of who the candidates will be. And Edwards has framed it in a way that demonstrates why this nation cannot afford to have a Democrat in the White House.

Addressing the causes of terrorism? The causes of Islamist terrorism are Islamic terrorists! To advocate that we must examine the underlying cause of Islamist terror is the same old tired refrain of the Left, the suggestion that this plague is somehow the fault of the United States, Israel and the West, that it is punishment for our sins.

The Islamist jihad is a war against modernity, a war against secular democracy, and a war against Christianity and Judaism. The "underlying causes," therefore, are modernity, secular democracy, Christianity and Judaism. If we are willing to surrender our modernity and our secular democracy, and abandon our Christianity and Judaism, we will have peace with the jihadists. In those sad and benighted nations where the Islamist philosophy prevails, such as the Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and any area unlucky enough to be governed by the Palestinian Authority, there is no modern economy (except, in Iran, for the rapidly decaying remnants of pre-Islamic Revolution economy; and, in Saudi Arabia, for what can be purchased and imported with petro dollars); no secular democracy; and certainly no Christianity or Judaism.

Which party do you trust to continue the war on terroism?