July 11, 2005

The other day I compared Islamofascists to toddlers having a temper tantrum. That got me to thinking about how the nannies from Fox's Nanny 911 would deal with unruly terrorists. Is it possible to apply their 11 Commandments to the War on Terror? Well, I'm going to give it a try.

1. Be Consistent
On 9/20/01, President Bush, like a good parent, laid out the expectations for the Arab world.

Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.

Of course, it's not just enough to say what kind of behavior you expect. Those expectations have to remain consistent. Nations like Iran or Syria have to understand that we will deal with them eventually. Oh sure, it'd be easier to just slack off after all the hard work we've done in Iraq and Afghanistan, but all that does is send the message to our enemies to wait until we get tired and lazy, and then they can go to town.

2. Actions Have Consquences
Otherwise known as the carrot and the stick. Throughout much of the 80s and 90s, we turned a blind eye to bad behavior from the Islamofascists. Not surprisingly, lacking adequate punishment, they continued to test their limits.

3. Say What You Mean And Mean It
Like a parent, America is, in many ways, the center of the Islamofascist's world. When we open our mouths, they listen. So, we have to choose our words carefully. We can neither be glib and say foolish things like "Bring it on!", nor can we embolden their cause and cut ourselves down by comparing our own behavior to, for example, Saddam Hussein's or the Nazis or Stalin or Pol Pot. You don't give a misbehaving child another justification for their bad behavior.

4. Parents Work Together As A Team
This is important. We can't have the President being the bad guy and the Democrats (or the Europeans) playing the role of Disney dad.

5. Don't Make Promises You Can't Keep
We can't promise the Arab Street prosperity. We can't promise them equality. We can, however, promise them greater freedom.

More tactically, this also means we have to keep the promises we already made. So, for example, we'll need to stay in Iraq until she's able to take care of her own security. If we don't, we've just shown the Islamofascists that they can get their own way if they just keep crying fighting long enough.

6. Listen To Your Children
While part of this really is a Clintonesque "I feel your pain" thing, another part is truly listening to what the Islamofascists fear and hate. What they truly fear is democracy. They're afraid that a free people will turn their backs on their twisted version of Islam. What this means is that we could end all of our military and financial operations in the Middle East tomorrow, and they'd still hate us. You can't control such an unruly enemy until you really understand what they want.

7. Establish A Routine
Routines provide a feeling of safety. Our very presence in Iraq provides that feeling. If Iraqis are able to go to work and school without getting killed, they'll be less likely to harbor terrorists in their midst and more likely to start to believe that working with America is the way to go.

8. Respect Is A Two-Way Street
Take this a couple of ways. First, we need to respect the Islamofascists' intentions. What I mean is that we need to realize that they do exist and they are a threat. We need to respect that threat. But, second of all, we also need to respect the people of the Middle East and believe that they have the same desire for freedom and the same capability for democracy that we do and that the great majority of them basically want to be able to live their lives and raise their families in peace.

9. Positive Reinforcement Works Much Better Than Negative Reinforcement
The news on the War on Terror seems to be unfailingly bad. Americans read about it everyday, but Muslims do too. A terrorist-to-be reads all about how bad things are and about how America's resolve is about to crumble. Think about how empowering that is to him. But, on the other hand, think about what it would be like if positive news from Iraq and Afghanistan was more widely disseminated. Regular folks would realize that fighting the terrorists in their midst wasn't a lost cause. They could take pride in what their countries have been able to accomplish and may even start to want to take part in those accomplishments.

10. Manners Are Universal
We can't only be upset when terrorists hit New York or London. We need to understand that a terrorist attack in Mosul is just as damaging as one in Madrid. Stopping terrorism outside the home, if you will, doesn't stop it completely, and, it also creates a homelife that's nothing but a breeding ground for ever more terrorism.

11. Define Your Roles As Parents
Ultimately, it's not the job of America to police the world. Really. We need to create conditions that foster freedom and discourage terrorism, but ultimately, it's up to each individual in the Middle East to choose the kind of life they want to live. Hopefully we do our job well enough that they make the right choice.

Posted by kris at July 11, 2005 11:32 PM

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