Who's Going to Win?

TCS Daily ^ | 9/11/2006 | Kenneth Silber

[Jane2005]

During the Cold War, some of the fiercest anti-Communists believed their cause was likely to fail. The writer and former Communist Whittaker Chambers sought to rally the West against his erstwhile comrades, but wrote that in making his break from Communism he "knowingly chose the side of probable defeat." George Orwell criticized fellow anti-Communist author Arthur Koestler for espousing "short-term pessimism" and a brighter long-term view; Orwell believed the long-term prospect was no less bleak.

A similar pessimism colors a good deal of current thinking about what I will call, for convenience, the War on Terror. (Indeed, what to name the conflict, and how to label the enemy, are sources of uncertainty that contribute to the pessimism. Fortunately, there have been some steps toward developing better terminology, such as this recent article.)

I have been struck, in recent conversations with activists focused on the threat of Islamic terrorism, to find among them a considerable degree of belief that, over time, the enemy will win. One New York woman who has devoted much energy since 9/11 to raising alarm about the threat gave me a succinct prediction about what will happen over a period of decades: "We're toast." Such pessimism, moreover, strikes a chord with much of the public. A Rasmussen poll in early August found that 33 percent of Americans believe the terrorists are winning the War on Terror. Here at TCS, the writings of Jim Pinkerton evince an unease as to whether the West will prevail.

[Mad Dawg]

I believe that America nd freedom lovers everywhere, living by conservative values of faith, courage, loyalty, and integrity, and the rest, will win, despite the opportion of the liberals.

And when we win, the liberals will take credit for the victory, and the MSM will give them the credit and continue to mock faith, courage,loyalty, integrity, and the rest.