Two More Potentially Fatal Bugs in the "Software" of the West

Submitted by Dave Foley (United States), Dec 31, 2006 at 15:46

The article described how three potentially fatal bugs could cause the West to lose to Islamists: Pacificism, Self-Hatred and Complacency. I propose two more potentially fatal bugs: Judaeo-Christian morality and civil rights.

Our morality precludes us, for example, from going after terrorists who hide in mosques, hospitals, schools, or among women and children. Islamic terrorists have no such constraints, which gives them a significant advantage.

Similarly, our concern for civil rights keeps us from using tactics that would infringe on personal liberty, such as widespread profiling, extensive wire-tapping, or abusive interrogation. We are doing the equivalent of imposing "Marqus of Queensbury rules" on our own actions in a bar fight, while our opponents have no rules and are free to use feet, bottles, knives, chairs, etc. Clearly they have another significant advantage.

Sadly, if we want to win, we may have to violate our own standards.

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