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November 12, 2001
Let's roll
The Jerusalem Post Editorial
US President George W. Bush's address to the United Nations on Saturday was to the world what his September 20 address to Congress was to the United States: a clarion call to vanquish the scourge of state-supported terrorism. With his speech to Congress, Bush became America's leader in a new way. With his UN speech, he became the leader of the forces of good in the world.
As in many other speeches by him and other leaders, Bush railed against the evil of terrorism. What was different about this speech, however, was an end to the polite tolerance for those who support and justify terrorism. As Bush simply said, 'A murderer is not a martyr, he is just a murderer.' At first, the United States acted as if it could 'agree to disagree' about what terrorism is. When the Organization of Islamic Countries condemned terrorism without criticizing US actions in Afghanistan, Bush hailed their statement, even though it blatantly justified terrorism against Israel as 'resisting occupation.' Now Bush seems to have realized that Arab/Islamic attempt to justify terrorism cannot be swept under the carpet.
'We must unite in opposing all terrorists, not just some of them,' Bush told the assembled leaders. 'There is no such thing as a good terrorist. No national aspiration, no remembered wrong can ever justify the deliberate murder of the innocent. Any government that rejects this principle, trying to pick and choose its terrorist friends, will know the consequences.' Across from the UN headquarters in New York, the words of Isaiah's vision of peace - of swords being beaten into plowshares - are chiseled in stone. If there ever were words that deserved to be chiseled alongside that prophetic vision at this moment, they are Bush's words abolishing the notion of good terrorism. The war on terrorism may have physically begun in Afghanistan, but the ideological gauntlet was thrown down only now at the UN.
Without mentioning the Arab world by name, Bush called them at their game. Alluding to the incredible attempts to blame Israel or the CIA for the September 11 attacks, Bush said, 'We must speak the truth about terror. Let us never tolerate... malicious lies that attempt to shift the blame from the terrorists themselves... To inflame ethnic hatred is to advance the cause of terror.' Those who had been concerned that Bush would make the mistake of rewarding Yasser Arafat with a meeting before Arafat had cracked down terror need not have worried. As National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice explained, 'There are responsibilities that come with being the representative of the Palestinian people... You cannot help us with al-Qaida and hug Hizbullah - that's not acceptable - or Hamas.' Nor is the US buying the idea that terrorism can be fought with another Middle East peace plan. 'There's no doubt in my mind,' Bush said with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair November 8, 'We'll bring al-Qaida
to justice, peace or no peace in the Middle East.' At the UN Bush called for two states, Israel and Palestine, living peacefully together. But he made clear that 'peace will only come when all have sworn off forever incitement, violence, and terror.' Bush has it exactly right: making peace depends on fighting terror, not the other way round. The reason is that anti-Israeli terrorism is just an extension of the rejection of Israel's right to exist, just like anti-American terrorism is an attempt to destroy everything that America stands for. The utter rejections of Israel and America are forms of meta-terrorism - they aim not just to kill civilians, but to wipe out societies and civilizations.
Bush seems to understand this. In an address to the nation on November 8, he stated, 'Our nation faces a threat to our freedoms, and the stakes could not be higher. We are the target of enemies who boast they want to kill - kill all Americans, kill all Jews, and kill all Christians. We've seen that type of hate before - and the only possible response is to confront it and to defeat it.' Bush concluded with an appeal for the sense of 'courage and optimism' exemplified by Todd Beamer, one of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 who lost their lives thwarting the hijackers from turning a fourth aircraft into a guided missile. Beamer's last words heard over an open phone line were a prayer and the exhortation, 'Let's roll.' Bush's call to Americans should resonate no less in hearts around the world: 'We will always remember the words of that brave man, expressing the spirit of a great country... We cannot know every turn this battle will take... But we have our marching orders: My fellow
Americans, let's roll.'
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