Operation Give

One of the major issues separating left and right these days is how we should
deal with terrorism.

Generalizing terribly, people on the left side of the aisle believe that we
need to deal with the root causes of terrorism; that if the root causes
of terrorism are addressed and solved, then terrorism will no longer be as
important an issue for us, because terrorists will not hate us; therefore, they
will have no reason to attack us. To attach a label to this viewpoint, let me
call it "curing the disease."

Continuing to generalize, those on the right believe that the fight against
terrorism requires that we bring the battles to the terrorists and their
supporters where they live. We cannot wait for the threat from terrorists
and their supporters to become imminent, because then it will be too late;
Americans or citizens of our allies will have died in another horrific attack.
Therefore, we may need to bring down governments of countries that support
terror (and by the way, free the citizens from the despotic leadership of those
countries). If I may, let me label this viewpoint "treating the symptoms."

In my opinion, it is clear that to be effective in the long term requires
that both treating the symptoms and curing the disease.

If you don't treat the symptoms, the patient may just die before you can cure
the disease. If you don't ultimately cure the disease, the symptoms will
reappear at some later time, and you've got the same problem all over again.

Of course, the reality of terrorism is more complex than that, but for the
sake of this essay, the analogy suffices, so let me continue.

It's pretty clear that the U.S. government and our allies are treating the
symptoms of terrorism, both in Afghanistan and in Iraq. We are using military
force to actively seek out and destroy terrorists and their supporters. People
disagree on whether or not it is the right thing to do, or on how effective the
military is at this mission, or whether or not the cost is too high, both in
lives and dollars. The fact remains, however, that we are at least trying
to treat the symptoms.

Article Author: Pete Nelson

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