Why We're Losing the War on Terror

The Geneva Conventions were designed to restrict the effects of war upon unarmed civilians by requiring that lawful combatants be identified, generally by wearing a uniform. In the War on Terror, our enemy does not recognize these rules. By their actions, terrorist organizations are explicitly rejecting the agreed-upon rules for civilized warfare. They disguise themselves as civilians, with no markings or uniforms to warn of their presence (which the Conventions give us the right to know) and, by inference, their intentions.

Common sense would dictate that if our enemy won’t abide by the rules that attempt to civilize the barbaric act of war, new rules to deal with them and reduce their effectiveness must be created. In rejecting the GC rules of engagement and identity, our enemy seeks to use our willingness to abide by the rules against us. If we continue to shackle ourselves with rules our enemy won’t follow, they have won. Our own civility will be used to defeat us just like our own airplanes were used as missiles on 9-11.

The shock of this rejection of civility has been quite effective in silencing human rights groups when confronted with the beheadings of captured civilians. Normally, these groups scream over the least of provocations, but are curiously silent when confronted with the type of barbarity shown in the beheading of Daniel Pearl.

The Obama administration has shown that they don’t know what to do to keep America safe from these animals that assume human form. In the most recent attempt on Christmas Day, the only thing we see from Washington is laughable attempts at spin control (Janet Napolitano’s quote that “the system worked” when it really didn't) and ineffective efforts to put on a show for the public, such as revoking the PantyBomber’s visa after the fact. President Obama himself cannot understand the reasons why our enemies despise us. He points to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as the primary reason for Al Qaeda’s Arabian Peninsula operations. That may be true in that particular instance, but if it weren’t Gitmo, it would be some other excuse. The hatred that burns in the heart of our enemy will use any reason, and any fool will believe it.

Fortunately, not all politicians are clueless. Sarah Palin gets it. And so do the American people. We wonder when this administration will get serious and start executing these terrorists like the rabid animals they are. When this happens, and our enemies begin to genuinely fear us, when Gitmo becomes a place to be frightened of instead of closed, then the tide will begin to turn and terrorism will become a thing of the past.