Al Qaeda's Growth and Appeasement

The International Institute for Strategic Studies in London has released a report on the strength of Al Qaeda. It estimates that 18,000 terrorists in 60 countries have signed up with the group. IISS analysts believe that the war in Iraq has spawned new recruits among militants and warned that Al Qaeda continues to covet weapons of mass destruction and is likely to continue to attack soft targets in Europe and America.

Opponents of the war against terrorists will doubtless seize on this news to denounce the war effort itself and not merely its execution. Had we left them alone or tried to understand their grievances, we would escape their wrath. But this argument for appeasement, as we've stated here many times and as others have argued, ignores the stark fact that we're engaged in a war for democracy's survival. That offensive attacks against terrorists and the regimes that supported and financed them would result in increased determination among militants to harm us isn't surprising. Did we expect them to convert en masse to the cause of peace and justice?

Terrorists, Islamic militants -- call them what you will -- must be defeated. That means killing or capturing them, not succoring them in the hope they'll allow us to thrive in their shadow. To paraphrase Barry Goldwater, fighting for liberty in the face of extremism is no vice. Al Qaeda's growth doesn't prove the failure of self-defense. Rather, it demonstrates the nature and ruthlessness of our enemy and calls for our resolve not to live in fear or to surrender our liberties to murderous thugs.