Jonah Goldberg, my favorite on-line columnist had this to say about suggestions that re-electing President Bush is exactly what Al Qaida wants because Bush is so unpopular it would only increase their recruitment efforts:

I truly don't mean this in the partisan way it sounds. It's just that, going back to 9/11, one of my biggest peeves has been the argument that doing This or That is "exactly what Bin Laden wants us to do." Opponents of the war in Afghanistan said it. Opponents of bombing during Ramadan said it. Etc.

It is possible, you know, for Osama Bin Laden to be wrong about what would be good for his cause. If he wanted a war in Afghanistan he was stupid because he got one and he lost it and now women are voting there and the one-eyed cleric is is twirling his propeller beanie in a dank cave. It is a strange glitch in human logic to always assume that the laws of unintended consequences only apply to your side and not to your enemies. History is full of losers who got exactly what they wanted.

Perfectly said. We care too much about what others think instead of making them care about what we think. We need to impose our will on our enemies, not accommodate them.

- posted by Thomas @ 4:12 PM