We understand terrorism. Do you?

Liberals incorrectly claim that conservatives believe that terrorism can be eliminated by military force.  Then after creating this straw man they seek to knock it down with circular logic, usually by citing the example of Israel's fifty six year battle with terrorism.

So let me put the leftists' minds, and I use the term loosely, at ease.  We conservatives, as a group, don't envision a terrorism free world any time soon.  TheWar Against Terror is a war that we will be fighting for decades, unless we go ahead and capitulate under a President Kerry or Hillary Clinton.  President Bush said in the days following September 11 that this would be a lengthy struggle.  We understand this.  We are prepared to accept this. 

Of course, leftists seem to have a lack of understanding about Islamic terrorism anyway.  First, they are uncomfortable calling it Islamic terrorism.  They tend to downplay the religious component in the terrorists' hatred for this country.  Except, of course, when they are attacking the invasion of Iraq.  Then the terrorists are conveniently religious and Saddam was conveniently secular.

Ordinarily, though, leftists want to make economic or nationalistic excuses for Middle Eastern terrorists.  They want to assign blame to the US or Israel for the causes of terrorism.  Leftists simply cannot fathom that Islamists can be so motivated by religion to engage in homicidal and suicidal acts.  Only American Christians could ever engage in terrorism because of religion in the eyes of the leftists.

They ignore the very words of the Qu'ran and the Prophet's other pronouncements demanding jihad.  They ignore the fact that the great majority of wars and conflicts throughout the world involve Islamic groups, WITHOUT US INVOLVEMENT.  The left can't bring themselves to admit that any group fighting the US is evil, and that their evil is religion based.

The left is convinced that if we simply stopped driving SUVs and stopped supporting Israel the jihadists would leave us alone.  France has tried that and Al Qaeda still makes threats against it.

We conservatives recognize that we are fighting an enemy that is religiously committed to evangelization at the point of a sword.  We are fighting an enemy that only respects strength and looks for any sign of weakness.  We are fighting an enemy that will still fight as long as one jihadist still lives.  We are involved in a death struggle between civilizations.

We conservatives understand terrorism.  I fear the left does not.