Some Democrats have said that the War on Terrorism is not a war of guns and soldiers, but a war of ideas. This phrase, war of ideas, has also surfaced elsewhere, including in Thomas Friedman's columns in the New York Times.
But what does it mean? What ideas? What are the ideas of the terrorists, and what ideas do we have to counter them?
Some Democrats have said that the War on Terrorism is not a war of guns and soldiers, but a war of ideas. This phrase, war of ideas, has also surfaced elsewhere, including in Thomas Friedman's columns in the New York Times.
But what does it mean? What ideas? What are the ideas of the terrorists, and what ideas do we have to counter them?
Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz performed his own rhetorical hat trick to make the invasion and occupation of Iraq part of the War on Terrorism. He claimed that our purpose there - quite apart from the dicey question of where all those WMD's are - is to plant the "seeds of democracy" in the Middle East.
Of course, the problem is that every move this administration has made from day one of its existence has been antidemocratic. And every move the occupying forces made in Iraq - from allowing the looting while protecting only one building in Baghdad, the Ministry of Petroleum; to the horrific pictures of torture in abu Ghraib - has put the lie to any claims that we came as liberators.
But we all understand that. We know that for all its talk about the blessings of freedom, the illiberal ideologues of the Bush administration are not only antidemocratic, they have no idea what democracy, rule of law, and a free society are.
But what does the war of ideas entail?
For a start, recognizing that the basic idea of the Islamic fundamentalists who form the backbone, flesh, and substance of today's terrorists is that only their own pure form of Islam is the one true faith, and that anyone who disagrees with their interpretations deserves death.
Certainly this is an idea that Bush and his crowd are familiar with, as it is the basis for their own politics. Anyone who disagrees with their interpretation of strict neoconservative constructionism is an evil traitor. They may not - consciously - go so far as to think such people deserve the death penalty, but the do believe that such are unworthy of participation in public discourse.
But it has become standard practice in today's polite society that one does not criticize the sincere religious beliefs of others. Even when those beliefs include genital mutilation, stoning, whipping, and mass murder?
Even more important than an honest understanding of the ideals of the terrorists that lead to mass murder and joyful suicide, there is no mention of the ideas and ideals that American, Western, modern society holds in opposition to them. Nor that these ideals have never come close to being practiced in the countries of the Middle East where the terrorists have received their indoctrination in bloodbaths.
What we need is someone displaying a basic understanding of what the War on Terrorism really is. What is a War of Ideas? What are our ideas, and how will we advocate them, act on them, or spread them?
I spent twenty-five years in a part of the government whose most important and lasting mission, to encourage democratic ideals and practices worldwide, was totally ignored in the power corridors of Washington. Thus, just at the time we needed USIA, we found that it had been abolished, and its people and resources swallowed by the most undemocratic (after the current White House) institution in the world, the U.S. Department of State.
So were someone to ask me, what do you think of the War on Terrorism, my answer would be simple. Sounds like a great idea. Let's start.