A Los Angeles Times front-pager portrays an anxious LA Muslim community riven between those who accept the need for heightened surveillance since 9/11/01 and those who fear hounding of the innocent. Some Muslims say they are refraining from free speech, charitable giving and even avoiding mosques. Such a chilling effect is not desirable, but how much is due to government actions and how much to agitation by radical Muslim groups deliberating sowing fear to impede intelligence collection is hard to guess. The article illuminates practical problems in carrying out homeland security in a liberal society, striking a fair balance between civil liberties and essential security.
The Washington Post details the al-Marri trial that moves the case of a top domestic collaborator in the 9/11 attacks from military to criminal court. Defendant has been held since shortly after 9/11 without bail or trial. He is a US citizen, which complicates the Constitutional issues. Will the trial, like those in the 1990s, instruct al-Qaeda about more of our intelligence gathering methods and what evidence we actually have? Stay tuned as Team 44 roils the security dice in pursuit of legalist purity.
Ten thousand miles away, artist Roman Genn sketched Americans & Afghans (Genn does National Review covers) and added actual captions; collectively they capture in a nutshell the complexities of the Afghan insurgency, which aims to prevent a threat to the homeland re-emerging from the Afghan tribal areas. You'll love the tribal leader who likes to read Dale Carnegie.
Fareed Zakharia, a leading declinist, argues America must learn to live with radical Islam and not treat Islamists as terrorists. Such is a depressing prospect, but it may prove to be the case, as America's desire for civilized interlocutors in the Islamic world runs up against atavism. So long as that atavism is not directed against us we would take, especially at a time when resources are severely strained, to accept a cold peace. Alas, 'tis fantasy, this idea of co-existence. Slog on we must.
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