Conflicted about the Conflict: Show of Strength

I heard a bit of pro-war commentary over the weekend which made me nod in agreement.

In a recent interview with an Afghan warlord in a British Arab-language newspaper, a man who has also done training camps for Al Qaeda, the interviewee spoke of having lots of recruits currently coming in for training, but that he expected an abrupt halt to the influx once America started to attack Iraq.  Basically, terrorist attacks like September 11 come because they can, because we (America, the West) are perceived as weak.  The terrorists believe that they can get away with it, that we won’t hit back.

(There is certainly support for that belief from the past decade, I’ll admit.  Clinton wasn’t great in that regard.)

Thus, the attack on Afghanistan was proving that we will slap back… once, and quickly.  The attack on Iraq, though, is proof that we won’t slap back only in response but as a continued show of strength.  Therefore, pulling back from Iraq would demonstrate that we have no balls, no willingness to follow through.  By going forward with the attack, we show our strength and commitment to a cause.  And that will serve both to impress the Arab world and to cow would-be recruits.

There is some good logic there.  But it is still logic which supports taking some action, not necessarily this one, in this way, at this time.