Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Blair's got guts. . .
. . .and that makes up for a lot of his "Third Way" blemishes. Despite being under constant media attack at home, he's remained steadfast in his support of the Global War on Terror. Now that his homeland is under attack from without and within, he's responding by remaining just as steadfast domestically.
Yes, it is horrifying to know that the man killed by police under suspicion of being a suicide bomber appears to have been innocent -- at least as terrorism is concerned. But, to abandon "shoot to kill in order to protect" as a means of confronting an immediate terrorist threat would be to send a huge signal of weakness, and would in essence render any attempt to defend against it impotent. The message to the police is effectively, "If a man is seen leaving a building under surveillance for suspected terrorist activities wearing a heavy coat in the middle of summer, tell him to stop. If he does not stop immediately, pursue him. And if you catch up with him on a train full of people, and he refuses to comply with your orders, do not use deadly force until you hear an explosion."
Yes, it is horrifying to know that the man killed by police under suspicion of being a suicide bomber appears to have been innocent -- at least as terrorism is concerned. But, to abandon "shoot to kill in order to protect" as a means of confronting an immediate terrorist threat would be to send a huge signal of weakness, and would in essence render any attempt to defend against it impotent. The message to the police is effectively, "If a man is seen leaving a building under surveillance for suspected terrorist activities wearing a heavy coat in the middle of summer, tell him to stop. If he does not stop immediately, pursue him. And if you catch up with him on a train full of people, and he refuses to comply with your orders, do not use deadly force until you hear an explosion."