Seventeen USS Cole sailors were murdered in October 2001 by Islamic terrorists in Aden, which has been a key training ground for Palestinian and Bin-Laden terrorists. But, the US refrained from a military response. 257 persons (twelve of them Americans) were murdered in August 1998 by Islamic terrorists, who blew up the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. But, the US retaliated by launching cruise missiles on insignificant targets in Sudan and Pakistan. Twenty four Americans were murdered by Islamic terrorists in June 1996 in Khobar, Saudi Arabia (19) and in November 1995 in Riad (5). However, there was no effective US military response. The 1991 Gulf War was prematurely concluded, and Iraq has persisted in developing nuclear, biological and chemical capabilities. It has encountered a restrained US bombing, rather than a determined US campaign to uproot the Saddam factor.
THE LOWERED COUNTER-TERRORISM PROFILE BY THE U.S. SENT A MESSAGE OF WEAKNESS, EMBOLDENING TERRORISTS and radicalizing their modes of operation. The tactic of restraint – and the illusion that negotiation is a viable option to eliminate terrorism – have facilitated the traumatic Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist acts against the US, hitting America’s soft belly and devastating the symbols of US strength.
On the other hand, PRESIDENT REAGAN PRODUCED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION OF GLOBAL TERRORISM, in the wake of his 1986 bombing of Qaddafi palace and capital and his devastation of Libyan naval facilities and its international airport, in response to the murder of five GIs. Reagan realized that TERRORISM MUST BE ERADICATED AT ITS EBB. He did not accept restraint as an operational option in THE BATTLE OF DEMOCRACIES AGAINST TOTALITARIAN TERRORISM. The Reagan Administration also laid the groundwork to the current strategic cooperation between the US and Israel, its “Mideast Outpost” (per Palestinian media), in face of MUTUAL THREATS: Islamic terrorism, Iraq, Iran and ballistic missiles. WHILE ISRAEL ADVANCES THE BATTLE AGAINST THESE THREATS AND ADHERES TO SHARED VALUES, THE PLO AND MOST ARAB COUNTRIES NURTURE THESE THREATS AND ABHOR THE VALUES ESPOUSED BY WESTERN DEMOCRACIES. WHILE ISRAEL IDENTIFIES WITH ENHANCED U.S. PROFILE IN THE GULF AREA IN PARTICULAR AND THE MIDEAST IN GENERAL, THE PLO AND MOST ARAB COUNTRIES CONSIDER U.S. PRESENCE IN THE MIDEAST, AND U.S. VALUES, AS A CARDINAL CHALLENGE TO THEIR OWN ASPIRATIONS.
For instance, ARAFAT-APPOINTED MUFTI (highest Islamic clergy), Akrameh Sabri, incited his worshipers to “DESTROY THE US AND ITS AGENTS” during an August 24, 2001 sermon broadcast via PLO TV and radio. On May 25, 2001 he called upon all Muslims to rally for the release, from US prison, of Ramzy Yousef, the terrorist who attempted to BLOW UP THE TWIN TOWERS IN 1993. Arafat’s daily, Al-Khayat Al-Jadida, praised Palestinian suicidal bombers (September 11, 2001), URGING PALESTINIANS TO FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE “LEBANESE MARTYRS” WHO BLEW UP THE US MARINES HEADQUARTERS (241 KILLED) AND US EMBASSY (63 KILLED). Thus, Arafat has established THE LARGEST and THE MOST PROTECTED ANTI-US, ANTI-ISRAEL AND PRO-IRAQ/IRAN TERRORIST BASE IN THE GLOBE. But, Jerusalem and Washington DC have demonstrated restraint, in spite of PALESTINIAN ECSTATIC REACTION TO THE TWIN TOWERS/PENTAGON TERRORISM.
The mass massacre, conducted by Islamic terrorists in the US, serves as an additional ALARM FOR ISRAEL, which constitutes (access and demography wise) a much more convenient arena for Islamic terrorists. The thundering terrorist “success” in the US – just like the shameful Israeli flight from Southern Lebanon – has set a new threshold of success for Palestinian terrorists. Now, THEY AIM AT AN “ISRAELI EDITION” OF THE TWIN TOWERS/PENTAGON TERRORISM. Israel should act promptly, WITH NO RESTRAINT, to foil that aim, while the anti-terrorist rage is engulfing the US and Europe, before Iran and Iraq attain nuclear and improved ballistic capabilities, and before Palestinian terrorists implement their grand plan. The earlier Israel acts, the lower the Jewish and Palestinian blood toll, and therefore the slimmer the chance for a regional conflict. The longer Israel restrains itself, the higher the blood toll, which would make it more difficult for the Arab countries to do that which serves their interest – to refrain from shedding blood on behalf of the Palestinians (as they have done since 1948!).