trellio
2004-04-21 03:24:55 UTC
http://www.sobran.com/columns/
Taking the Bait
April 6, 2004
In 1956, the story goes, a little boy named Bobby Fischer played for the
U.S chess championship. In what seemed to be the middle of the deciding
game, he exposed his queen to capture. His opponent, thinking this a
kid=3Fs blunder, grabbed the queen. A moment later Bobby was the new champ.
Fischer=3Fs queen sacrifice is remembered as one of the most inspired moves
in the history of chess. He had laid a brilliant trap for his
unsuspecting opponent, who took the irresistible bait.
Assuming the official story of 9/11 is more or less correct, Osama bin
Laden and al-Qaeda may have been laying a trap for President Bush, who
took the bait. And is still taking it.
Most of us assumed, as Bush did, that the 9/11 attacks were, like Pearl
Harbor, the beginning of a war, in which more such attacks would follow
quickly. We debated all kinds of measures to prevent another 9/11: arming
airline pilots, sealing our homes with duct tape, invading Afghanistan
and Iraq. We even talked about terrorists =3Fconquering=3F the United States.
But there has been no repetition of 9/11. Why should there be? Our friend
Osama planned a brilliant crime on the cheap, and got a lot of bang for
his buck. The U.S. Government overreacted wildly, striking at the wrong
targets from the U.S. Constitution to Baghdad. Meanwhile, the Muslim
world is inflamed against us, while most of the West looks at us with
misgivings.
Is Osama disappointed today? Aren=3Ft this American freak-out and global
uproar just what he must have foreseen, expected, and therefore intended?
Isn=3Ft Bush really serving Osama=3Fs purposes even now? The crimes of 9/11
are still paying rich dividends.
For the first time, I really wish Bill Clinton were still president. As a
good Southern politician, he would have asked himself a savvy question
immediately after 9/11: =3FWhat do these Muslim sonsabitches want me to
do?=3F Then he would have avoided the obvious gut reaction and tried to do
something else. As in, don=3Ft do just what your enemy is counting on your
doing.
Using the ancient Arab technique of jiu-jitsu, Osama has provoked the
United States to use its own power against itself. Bush has mistaken a
test of intelligence for a test of will; and he has shown a lot more of
the latter than the former. He has even been outsmarted by his
underlings, who steered him into the war with Iraq they wanted all along.
Does Bush really think he hurt Osama by overthrowing his enemy Saddam
Hussein? Does he suppose that Osama is shaking his head sadly over the
chaos in Iraq today? Has it occurred to Bush that he may be following the
script Osama has written for him?
When you find yourself in a hole, they say, stop digging. But the
American way is to keep digging (we call it =3Fresolve=3F), say the hole is a
tunnel, and assure everyone that you can already see the light at the end
of it.
Bush predicted that the overthrow of Saddam would bring on a contagious
spread of democracy in the Arab world. Well, democracy seems to be
running a little behind schedule. It doesn=3Ft appear likely to arrive in
Baghdad by June 30.
Someone has challenged me, since I don=3Ft care for Bush=3Fs approach, to
offer my own =3Fsolution=3F for terrorism. I wish I had one. But I think of
James Burnham=3Fs maxim: =3FWhen there=3Fs no solution, there=3Fs no problem.=3F
Not every evil is a =3Fproblem=3F; some evils just have to be coped with.
As long as America is determined to be the global superduperpower, it can
expect global resistance, from both determined enemies and reluctant
=3Fallies.=3F Is it worth the price? At what point will this country stop
blustering and decide to come to terms with its enemies?
The Soviet Union began with a grand dream of abolishing private property.
It tried, hard, by making all sorts of normal economic exchange
(=3Fcapitalism=3F) illegal. But black markets thrived, and the rulers were
soon forced to come to terms with them or face mass starvation.
Some forms of behavior simply can=3Ft be suppressed for long. Given the way
the world is now organized, what we call terrorism may be one of these.
Or, from another point of view, terrorism may be a =3Fsolution=3F to the
problem of the state.
In Iraq, Bush has tried to decapitate the Hydra by ousting Saddam. As
usual, the Hydra has only sprouted more heads. With an enemy like Bush,
does Osama need friends?
Joseph Sobran
Copyright © 2004 by the Griffin Internet Syndicate
Taking the Bait
April 6, 2004
In 1956, the story goes, a little boy named Bobby Fischer played for the
U.S chess championship. In what seemed to be the middle of the deciding
game, he exposed his queen to capture. His opponent, thinking this a
kid=3Fs blunder, grabbed the queen. A moment later Bobby was the new champ.
Fischer=3Fs queen sacrifice is remembered as one of the most inspired moves
in the history of chess. He had laid a brilliant trap for his
unsuspecting opponent, who took the irresistible bait.
Assuming the official story of 9/11 is more or less correct, Osama bin
Laden and al-Qaeda may have been laying a trap for President Bush, who
took the bait. And is still taking it.
Most of us assumed, as Bush did, that the 9/11 attacks were, like Pearl
Harbor, the beginning of a war, in which more such attacks would follow
quickly. We debated all kinds of measures to prevent another 9/11: arming
airline pilots, sealing our homes with duct tape, invading Afghanistan
and Iraq. We even talked about terrorists =3Fconquering=3F the United States.
But there has been no repetition of 9/11. Why should there be? Our friend
Osama planned a brilliant crime on the cheap, and got a lot of bang for
his buck. The U.S. Government overreacted wildly, striking at the wrong
targets from the U.S. Constitution to Baghdad. Meanwhile, the Muslim
world is inflamed against us, while most of the West looks at us with
misgivings.
Is Osama disappointed today? Aren=3Ft this American freak-out and global
uproar just what he must have foreseen, expected, and therefore intended?
Isn=3Ft Bush really serving Osama=3Fs purposes even now? The crimes of 9/11
are still paying rich dividends.
For the first time, I really wish Bill Clinton were still president. As a
good Southern politician, he would have asked himself a savvy question
immediately after 9/11: =3FWhat do these Muslim sonsabitches want me to
do?=3F Then he would have avoided the obvious gut reaction and tried to do
something else. As in, don=3Ft do just what your enemy is counting on your
doing.
Using the ancient Arab technique of jiu-jitsu, Osama has provoked the
United States to use its own power against itself. Bush has mistaken a
test of intelligence for a test of will; and he has shown a lot more of
the latter than the former. He has even been outsmarted by his
underlings, who steered him into the war with Iraq they wanted all along.
Does Bush really think he hurt Osama by overthrowing his enemy Saddam
Hussein? Does he suppose that Osama is shaking his head sadly over the
chaos in Iraq today? Has it occurred to Bush that he may be following the
script Osama has written for him?
When you find yourself in a hole, they say, stop digging. But the
American way is to keep digging (we call it =3Fresolve=3F), say the hole is a
tunnel, and assure everyone that you can already see the light at the end
of it.
Bush predicted that the overthrow of Saddam would bring on a contagious
spread of democracy in the Arab world. Well, democracy seems to be
running a little behind schedule. It doesn=3Ft appear likely to arrive in
Baghdad by June 30.
Someone has challenged me, since I don=3Ft care for Bush=3Fs approach, to
offer my own =3Fsolution=3F for terrorism. I wish I had one. But I think of
James Burnham=3Fs maxim: =3FWhen there=3Fs no solution, there=3Fs no problem.=3F
Not every evil is a =3Fproblem=3F; some evils just have to be coped with.
As long as America is determined to be the global superduperpower, it can
expect global resistance, from both determined enemies and reluctant
=3Fallies.=3F Is it worth the price? At what point will this country stop
blustering and decide to come to terms with its enemies?
The Soviet Union began with a grand dream of abolishing private property.
It tried, hard, by making all sorts of normal economic exchange
(=3Fcapitalism=3F) illegal. But black markets thrived, and the rulers were
soon forced to come to terms with them or face mass starvation.
Some forms of behavior simply can=3Ft be suppressed for long. Given the way
the world is now organized, what we call terrorism may be one of these.
Or, from another point of view, terrorism may be a =3Fsolution=3F to the
problem of the state.
In Iraq, Bush has tried to decapitate the Hydra by ousting Saddam. As
usual, the Hydra has only sprouted more heads. With an enemy like Bush,
does Osama need friends?
Joseph Sobran
Copyright © 2004 by the Griffin Internet Syndicate