I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. The peace protests which followed U.S. and British air strikes in Afghanistan, were, alas, preditable. Muslim protests I'll set aside for, out of ignorance, even non-fanatics believe the offensive is an attack on their religion. One hopes they'll come to see otherwise.
I can also write off a portion of the foreign protest. There will always be those who hate and envy us, and if we were fighting the Devil in Hell, they'd be burning American flags.
But the rest? They say war is never the answer, that by sinking to their level we're no better than Al Quaeda, that we should reason not fight.
But Bin Laden is no more open to reason than Hitler. Like Hitler, he is a fanatic with a plan. Appeasement will embolden, not deter him. The protesters have ignored or, worse, rationalized the intentional killing of more than 5,000 civilians. We cannot, not if we wish to protect our way of life – even protect the protestors who, in Bin Laden's world, would already have met the executioner.
Those are my ideas, and at the ncpa we know ideas can change the world. I'm pete du pont. Next time, economic stimulus.