Anyone who has paid even the most casual attention to the news of late
knows that al Qaeda’s thugs have themselves been busy attacking
Muslims, indiscriminately killing them in Iraq to thwart the birth of
a democratic, modern nation. Afghanistan, which just held another
successful election, is still a battleground. And, of course, there
was the recent terrorist attack in London against “infidels” in its
subways and on its buses. There as since been another attack in Bali.

History is replete with lessons that teach the futility of negotiating
with people who want to kill you. The English, the French, the
Soviets

Negotiating With Our Murderers
Written by Alan Caruba
Thursday, October 27, 2005

Making the rounds of the opinion editorial pages of various U.S.
dailies, Prof. Allen J. Zerkin, has been urging the United States to
begin opening channels to al Qaeda for the purpose of seeking ?a
truce?no matter how much that galls us.?

Prof. Zerkin is a research fellow at New York University?s
Center for Catastrophic Preparedness and Response, and an adjunct
professor at its Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. These would
appear to be rather impressive credentials, but should we really
listen to someone who thinks al Qaeda has ?limited and specific
goals??

According to Osama bin Laden ?The United States has been occupying the
lands of Islam in the holiest of places, plundering its riches,
dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its
neighbors.? That?s what he was saying back in 1998. It is useful to
keep in mind that bin Laden is worth millions thanks to his family
connections in Saudi Arabia where he grew up. His father, Muhammad
bin Laden, was a billionaire construction magnate in Saudi Arabia.

Osama bin Laden received an excellent education before experiencing
some kind of Wahabi epiphany when he put aside a life of wealth and
ease in favor of joining the war against the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan. When that was over, he returned home to Saudi Arabia
expressing an antipathy for the royal family that earned him an
invitation to leave. He went to the Sudan and, in time, his Saudi
passport was revoked. The Saudis, who live by the strictest Islamic
codes of behavior, were not strict enough for Osama.

Prof. Zerkin, though, worries that al Qaeda will be able to attack the
United States with a biological or nuclear weapon. Who doesn?t worry
about this? And just as surely, who doesn?t know that there are
dozens of other Islamic terrorist organizations that dream of doing
it?

Prof. Zerkin found a grain of hope in a recent message by Ayman
al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda?s second in command. In that message, Zawahri
referred to bin Laden?s April 2004 offer of a truce to any European
country that made a commitment to stop ''attacking Muslims or
intervening in their affairs.'' This is a truce that sets in motion
the end of Europe as the birthplace of Western civilization and the
establishment of an Islamic caliphate there.

Anyone who has paid even the most casual attention to the news of late
knows that al Qaeda?s thugs have themselves been busy attacking
Muslims, indiscriminately killing them in Iraq to thwart the birth of
a democratic, modern nation. Afghanistan, which just held another
successful election, is still a battleground. And, of course, there
was the recent terrorist attack in London against ?infidels? in its
subways and on its buses. There as since been another attack in Bali.

The bloodlust that distinguishes al Qaeda operations is hardly a
platform for back channel or any other negotiations. Prof. Zerkin
acknowledges this noting that terrorist attacks leave little to
discuss and the greater goal of destroying Western, i.e.,
Judeo-Christian civilization, is non-negotiable. He even concedes
that it is widely believed that ?bin Laden and company will not act in
good faith.? If the professor would read the Koran, he would find
this supposition confirmed in the Islamic holy book.

History is replete with lessons that teach the futility of negotiating
with people who want to kill you. The English, the French, the
Soviets, and others discovered that no treaty with the Nazis was worth
the paper upon which it was written. Famously, Neville Chamberlain,
the then-prime minister of England, did not return from Berlin having
achieved ?peace in our time.?

The dregs of Islam have been gathered together by bin Laden under the
banner of al Qaeda. They are led by men with an utterly bizarre view
of the world and the same casual indifference to human life with which
they recruit ?youths who love death as you love life.?

In the end, Prof. Zerkin says, ?I am not suggesting that we engage in
direct meetings with al Qaeda or that we stop pursuing those who
commit or support acts of terror. But, through back channels, we
should seek to determine if bin Laden would withdraw his ?fatwa?
against Americans in exchange for certain policy changes, if al Qaeda
would settle for less than its maximum demands and if its far-flung
followers would honor a truce.?

Prof. Zerkin thinks there is ?inconclusive? proof that bin Laden might
be willing to do a deal. So (1) why is he even suggesting
negotiations and (2) why is any daily newspaper actually printing his
recommendation as if it had a shred of merit?

He needs to visit the former Nazi concentration camps or any of the
camps of the former Soviet Union?s Ghulag Archipelago. He needs a
reminder of the prisons and mass graves that dot the landscape of
Saddam Hussein?s Iraq. He needs to gain a greater insight into the
Arab mind.

He needs to visit Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. When he does, he
will no longer be penning hopeful nonsense about negotiating with the
criminally and theologically insane. There is only one course of
action for the West. It must destroy its Islamist enemies or, failing
that, it must surrender.

Negotiating With Our Murderers
Written by Alan Caruba
Thursday, October 27, 2005

He needs to visit the former Nazi concentration camps or any of the
camps of the former Soviet Union’s Ghulag Archipelago. He needs a
reminder of the prisons and mass graves that dot the landscape of
Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. He needs to gain a greater insight into the
Arab mind.

He needs to visit Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. When he does, he
will no longer be penning hopeful nonsense about negotiating with the
criminally and theologically insane. There is only one course of
action for the West. It must destroy its Islamist enemies or, failing
that, it must surrender.