I heard a story on NPR this morning about Ferial Masry (more here:
http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/archives/04_0409_us_wip_saudi_native.htm)
In a moment of enlightenment I suddenly realized the answer to a question that has bothered me since the start of this election: How can we win the war on terror?
The answer: prior to the war in Iraq, we
were winning!
Most intelligent people realize that war on terror cannot be won by conventional military warfare. It is not a military war at all. It was simply made that way by a group of radicals and an American public eager for quick solutions and addicted to guns, tanks, fighter planes and explosions ala Rambo or Doom.
The war on terror is a culture war, and the reason we were attacked on 9/11 is that we were winning, and winning decisively. Iran and Saudi Arabia were having a hard time maintaining thier oppressive fundamentalist regimes in the face of American success.
George W. Bush and the neo-conservatives changed all that.
The War in Iraq turned America from a shining example of the success of freedom and democracy into an evil empire to be resisted at all costs. Bush was a uniter all right - he united the nations of Freedom's enemies.
So how do we win?
Kerry is right - first, we must end the view of America as the occupier of Iraq. This is best done by getting our allies in to Iraq and America out.
Second, we need to highlight stories like Ferial Masry, a Saudi Arabian woman running for state office in California. Her name is all over Arab newspapers. Imagine, a woman born in a country where women are not even allowed to drive, running for public office in America.
We win the war on terror by turning the mothers and sisters and wives of the terrorists against them. And that will never be accomplished by military force. That is done by doing what we used to do best. Be a shining example of hope a freedom.