Long but a very good read.

"I don't want to bring them to justice. I want to defeat them." -- Newt Gingrich

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THE FEDERALIST(r) CHRONICLE
The Conservative e-Journal of Record
* Veritas Vos Liberabit *

12 September 2001
Federalist Edition #01-37
Wednesday Chronicle


______----********O********----______
SPECIAL EDITION

Editor's Note: We ask our readers to join us in prayer: first, for our
nation and the victims of Tuesday's cowardly assault on American
civilian and military targets. We pray for those who are trapped alive
in the rubble of the World Trade Center. We pray for the emergency
personnel attempting rescues and the military service members standing
in harms way. We pray especially for the mothers and fathers, sisters
and brothers and sons and daughters who have lost family members in
this attack on our nation. (We note with additional personal grief the
death of our colleague Barbara Olson, wife of Solicitor General Ted
Olson.)  And please pray for our nation's leaders, that they will have
the wisdom, insight and courage to confront the challenges of these
coming days. We ask all of our readers to take a moment now, and bow
in prayer, remembering that we must humble ourselves before Our
Heavenly Father and that our Creator is Sovereign.

And when you rise, please also remember that we must never again bend
the knee to those perpetrators of terror and its compliment --
tyranny.


______----********O********----______
THE FOUNDATION

"Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say,
'What should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our
posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough, and
sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us
the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the
earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of
servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace.
We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which
feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity
forget that ye were our countrymen!" --Samuel Adams

(cont.)

______----********O********----______
FEDERALIST PERSPECTIVE

The United States of America is at war. A small group of Islamic
terrorist hijacked four civilian aircraft within an hour Tuesday and
exacted horrendous death and destruction as they flew two of the
aircraft into the twin 110-story towers of New York's World Trade
Center, a third airplane into one side of the Pentagon, and the fourth
into the ground near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

There are between 7 and 15 thousand civilian casualties and as many as
500 military casualties.

The coordinated hijackings, from three different airports, were of
planes full of fuel for cross country trips -- suitable for use as
guided bombs. And the targets were chosen for the maximum visual
impact -- the nation's most significant international symbols of
economic and military power.

This momentous event, the worst terrorist attack in world history,
caps the tragedy of years of appeasement of rogue nations and
terrorists, appeasement that reached a zenith during the eight years
of Bill Clinton's administration.  As our friend George Will put it,
"...[T]he nation's decade-long holiday from history came to a
shattering end."

We can no longer attempt to define Muslim offenders by "international
borders." These attacks on U.S. soil are the natural culmination of
foreign policy negligence (as The Federalist often reminded Clinton
often: "It's the foreign policy, stupid!"), declining military and
intelligence capabilities, appeasement of Islamic terrorists, and a
long span of tragically misguided blunders in Middle East diplomacy.

The real legacy of Bill Clinton was sketched in graphic images
yesterday, across the skyline of Manhattan, before the eyes of the
entire world. Clinton's DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said, "There are
no partisans today, only patriots." But, to be sure, the partisans of
yesterday have patriot blood on their hands today.

We reported two weeks ago, in Digest #01-35, on credible threats
emanating from terrorists around the world, including this one from
Illich Ramirez Sanchez, AKA "Carlos the Jackal," the infamous
international terrorist from Venezuela now sidelined in a French jail:
"The Yankee should beware, we know. The deceitful 'peace process' has
come to a pitiful demise. People's resistance in Palestine, armed
operations worldwide, are the alternative to surrender." Sanchez urged
a "protracted people's war without boundaries," especially targeting
U.S. interests.

Three weeks ago, Islamic cell leader Osama bin Laden was quoted by
Arab news sources as saying that he was prepared to execute an
"unprecedented" attack on U.S. soil. Tuesday's attack qualifies as
"unprecedented." And most intelligence analysts, including those
associated with The Federalist  Editorial Board, have declare bin
Laden the likeliest culprit.

Indeed, we provided bin Laden an easy target. Our military and
intelligence structures have languished in the last decade to the
extent that we failed to detect something as well organized and
executed as this attack. Knowledgeable observers focused their
criticism on the decay in our foreign policy, military and
intelligence capabilities.

(cont.)

As the ancient military strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu observed in
his classic treatise The Art of War, "Whether the object be to crush
an army, to storm a city, or to assassinate an individual, it is
always necessary to begin by finding out the names of the attendants,
the aides-de-camp, and door-keepers and sentries of the general in
command. Our spies must be commissioned to ascertain these. ... Attack
[your opponent] where he is unprepared, appear where you are not
expected. ... Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent
does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose
opponent does not know what to attack."

Bin Laden clearly understands this doctrine. For eight long years, our
nation has ignored it. The price for such ignorance is now apparent.

Speaking to the nation early Tuesday, President George W. Bush said:
"Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward and
freedom will be defended. I want to reassure the American people that
the full resources of the federal government are working to assist the
local authorities to save lives and to help the victims of these
attacks. ...Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and
punish those responsible for these cowardly acts...."

Indeed, the military LERTICON (alert condition) sequence moved to
DefCon1 Delta at about 0930ET Tuesday -- and remains at that highest
state of war readiness at this writing.

Tuesday evening, Mr. Bush told the nation:  "[We have] been moved to
defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of
our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of
America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of
American resolve.

"America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon
for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that
light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil.... These acts
shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.''

Wednesday morning, President Bush again reiterated that these attacks
were "an act of war."

Attempting to understand yesterday's carnage, many have waged
comparisons with "Pearl Harbor." Indeed, both attacks were against a
sleeping giant, but he comparisons stop there. Pearl Harbor required
the entire military resources of Japan. On December 7, 1941, the
original "Day of Infamy," 353 Japanese planes attacked a military
target killing 2,390 unprepared combatants.

The events we witnessed Tuesday required a hand full of airline
tickets for Islamic zealots with some basic flight training and some
sharp instruments. (You may recall that three of bin Laden's
operatives on trial in New York earlier this year for their role in
the East African embassy bombings, had pilot licenses.)

(cont.)

In the fresh blood of this predictable tragedy, we recall the words of
President Ronald Reagan from 1983, reprinted in The Federalist last
week, concerning how military budgets should be determined. His words
are poignant at this moment:

"What seems to have been lost in all this debate is the simple truth
of how a defense budget is arrived at. It isn't done by deciding to
spend a certain number of dollars. ... We start by considering what
must be done to maintain peace and review all the possible threats
against our security. Then a strategy for strengthening peace and
defending against those threats must be agreed upon. And, finally, our
defense establishment must be evaluated to see what is necessary to
protect against any or all of the potential threats. The cost of
achieving these ends is totaled up, and the result is the budget for
national defense. ... Since the dawn of the atomic age, we've sought
to reduce the risk of war by maintaining a strong deterrent and by
seeking genuine arms control. 'Deterrence' means simply this: making
sure any adversary who thinks about attacking the United States, or
our allies, or our vital interests, concludes that the risks to him
outweigh any potential gains. Once he understands that, he won't
attack. We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only
invites aggression."

The foreign policy foundation of the Clinton administration allowed
our military to decline, depending instead on the errant parameters of
antiquated international laws and United Nations doctrine. Unlike the
administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush(41), Clinton pulled
our punches and appeased terrorists. His regime, in effect, filed the
flight plans for Tuesday's attacks. (And because the Senate is holding
Mr. Bush's nominees hostage, the cognizant federal agencies with
responsibility for our national security are still, largely, in the
hands of that regime.)

We can't expect rogue nations and terrorist cells to abide by such
laws and doctrines. We can't negotiate with the Muslim equivalent of
Kamikaze pilots, whose only loyalty is to an erroneous notion that
their bloody martyrdom will lead to eternal life. We can only kill
them.

So where do we go from here? Sun Tzu also noted: "He will win who has
military capacity."

Until 8:45 a.m. Tuesday morning, Leftists on Capital Hill were
attacking President Bush for his plans to rebuild our military
capacity. But as security policy analyst Frank Gaffney notes: "This
should put an end to discussion of funding our defense budget at
levels inadequate to deal with two major contingencies simultaneously.
We now have one at home; how long will it be before we have one
elsewhere?"

Mr. Bush will be pressured by the Left to take the position that
Tuesday's assault on our nation was a "crime" rather than an act of
war -- limited to the actions of a few. We take strong exception to
this position. Tuesday's events were, indeed, and act of WAR. While
Congress fumbles around with resolutions of condemnation, President
Bush must call for a declaration of war against bin Laden -- and any
nation providing him safe harbor. Our nation's third president
declared war against the Barbary pirates -- bandits without borders --
so there is already historic precedent.

(cont.)

In response to the slaughter of our fellow citizens -- thousands of
innocent non-combatants -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
concluded, "I don't want to bring them to justice. I want to defeat
them." It is The Federalist's position that we should give nation's
which harbor terrorists the same advance warning we gave Hiroshima --
and let fly. We must to turn the sands of Afghanistan into molten
glass -- NOW -- and let bin Laden's other host nations know that our
actions against Afghanistan were only the first volley of fire.
(Interestingly, after Russia's protracted war in Afghanistan, bombing
that rogue regime into oblivion might get a quiet diplomatic nod.)

In retrospect, as our nation processes the shock and visual images of
Tuesday's attacks, we offer a grim set of bearings -- nothing has
changed here, beyond the fact that the terrorists have now drawn more
blood ... much more blood.  We have been at this state of war with
Islamic terrorists for 25 years now. We have been an especially
blessed nation, in that we have staved off such planned attacks in the
past.  But the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center should have been
a wakeup call -- but it was not. Tuesday, terrorist murderers
succeeded where others have failed, because they got through our
greatly diminished military and intelligence capability.

In regard to what we can do as citizens -- support President Bush's
effort to rebuild our military and intelligence capabilities. Support
his efforts to establish a viable missile defense system to protect
our nation from the high frontier of terror that will soon be
available for rogue states and their surrogate actors.

Additionally, although we have weathered the most dangerous 24 hours
after the initial assault, our nation could still suffer second tier
attacks against civilian power grids and water systems in coming days
-- an effort to further demoralize our people and undermine our
resolve. As we advised, in our three part series in advance of the
Y2K, the preparations we were undertaking as a nation then were more
important to surviving the "ripple effect" of terrorist events, than
to the clock turn. Supply lines, economic transactions, electric and
electronic grids are all so centralized that we are all at some risk
-- what hits New York can be felt in Los Angeles and all points
between, so we call once again for all Americans to maintain a level
of civil preparedness for such tragic events. Tuesday's attacks were
the opening rounds -- not the closing rounds of this war.

And last, we were touched by the sight of Members of Congress
assembled on the Capitol steps Tuesday afternoon singing "God Bless
America."  Let us all join in that chorus!

-- PUBLIUS  --

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