Two thoughts on Canada

First, I think it’s clear from many acts of terror throughout the Western world that Islamic terrorists are not satisfied to destroy America. These terrorists evidently wish to overthrow any form of Western government that in any way defines itself as apart from Islamic law. I think that this foiled plot, along with the bombings of Spain, should convince anyone that they will not simply leave us be if we leave Iraq or Afghanistan. Spain and Canada are by no means a threat to the Islamic way of life, nor are they a significant force in either country. Nevertheless, their symbolic show of support for the USA’s foreign policy has placed them on the most wanted list for a band of religious fanatics that have vowed to destroy all that is Western.

However, we must be careful not to lump all these groups together as one entity that we must overcome. Just as al-Zarqawi’s al Qaeda in Iraq has tenuous connections to bin Laden’s al Qaeda network at best, these Canadian terrorists are not members of al Qaeda, but merely “al Qaeda inspired.” One can take this as an admission by Canadian intelligence that this group had no connection to bin Laden’s terror network, and were merely acting on their own to promote similar goals. This is important to keep in mind while we celebrate the death of Zarqawi. While it is great news that such a vile man was killed, we need harbor no illusions that crippling the terrorists’ hierarchy will stop Islamic violence throughout the world. These groups are very often completely autonomous and unconnected, and harming Zarqawi’s network is going to do nothing to stop many terrorist groups in Iraq from continuing their campaign of violence, to say nothing of groups in the Western world. The only way to truly destroy Islamic fundamentalist violence is to undermine the public’s support for terrorism in their own countries. The only way to truly do this is to improve the economic situation in these countries, so the public does not harbor such anti-Western sentiments. Once these countries begin to benefit substantially from global integration, the radical elements in their nations will slowly lose their stranglehold on the discourse, and we can finally end this supposed clash of civilizations.

My second point is the motivation behind my strong misgivings about the effects of economic sanctions against Iran, assuming negotiations fail.