“Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.”
“Conservatives saw what happened to us on 9/11 and said, ‘We will defeat our enemies,’ ” [Presidential Advisor Karl] Rove continued at a gathering in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State. “Liberals saw what happened to us and said, ‘We must understand our enemies.’ “
Without getting into liberalism versus conservatism, Mr. Rove has a point. There is a school of thought that terrorists must be understood as basically reasonable people who are simply angry at the supposed arrogance of the United States. “No, terrorism can’t be excused,” they claim. “But it must be understood.”
Yet what benefit is there to understanding the inexcusable? How can it lead to peace to negotiate with people who have already decided that your elimination is deserved?
Therapy, in a political context, is generally understood as diplomacy. The problem is that diplomacy, like therapy, cannot work with people who don’t see themselves as being at fault. The alcoholic who refuses to recognize his problem certainly could benefit from therapy, but because he won’t engage in the honesty therapy requires of him, it’s useless. Similarly, the terrorists who plague us could certainly use a good dose of diplomacy, but they don’t believe in diplomacy because they believe violence is a necessary and justifiable means of getting what they want.
The competence or consistency with which conservatives fight terrorism might be open to debate. What isn’t open to debate is the fact that a significant number of our leaders think that diplomacy can pacify the unapologetically belligerent. No such thing will ever happen. Karl Rove’s surprising candor is refreshing, but also threatening to those who want to pretend they defend our nation’s interest while making peace with our enemies.
