Pictures, Smictures; Shut Up And Kick Butt

Mark Steyn remembers Osama believing,

Bin Laden famously said that when people see a strong horse and a weak horse they naturally prefer the strong horse. Putting a bullet through his eye is a good way of letting him know which role he's consigned to.

True, Osama knew, for a brief time, which role he was to play now. Now, we must not squander the message. For, though Bin Laden got the message, only when others know that the same justice will come their way will they be motivated to suspend perpetrating evil. And, many, if not most, will never get the message until they are in front of the American bullet too. What motivational value the killing of Bin Laden could bring will be wasted if we are not resolved to repeat it now against the others of his kind. Squabbling amongst ourselves, and acting weak in the aftermath of eliminating Osama sends the wrong follow-up message.

To our friends we can say, sorry to irritate your sensibilities with our forceful methods and speech, please remember that our ill manners will end when we have put our enemies out of business. Friends, remember, it is not our preference to be put in an existential conflict; but for the benefit of you, and me, we must do this work, distasteful though it may be. And, our kind friends would surely understand, knowing our true nature, that we are telling the truth and that it is the right and just way. And, the only effective way to resolve a conflict too big to lose.

And, we would know that once we the doers were done with the enemy we will find peace from and among their friends. For our friends would understand the temporary nature of our the discordant response we must provide. Our friends would not offer impractical alternatives or debate in place of action against a foe determined to do in us and our friends. And, once our work is done, our friends would not wish to prolong the restlessness forced upon us by exacerbating our burden with mockery or contemptuous rhetoric. At least we will have that going for us as we live with what we have to do. Our friends will understand and provide silent support.

A decade on, our troops are running around Afghanistan "winning hearts and minds" and getting gunned down by the very policemen and soldiers they've spent years training. Back on the home front, every small-town airport has at least a dozen crack TSA operatives sniffing round the panties of grade-schoolers. Meanwhile, at the UN, the EU, at the Organization of the Islamic Conference, in the "Facebook revolutions" of "the Arab spring," the Islamization of the world proceeds: Millions of Muslims support bin Laden's goal – the submission of the Western world to Islam – but, unlike him, understand that flying planes into buildings is entirely unnecessary to achieving it. Will being high-flying Jetsons with state-of-the-art gizmos prove sufficient in a Flintstonizing world? The Pakistanis are pretty sure they know the answer to that.