Thursday, April 15, 2004
Bin Laden has offered to negotiate with Europe to cease attacks there. In a sense, it's a mark of how impressed he was by his success in Spain. But I'd say that this will likely have positive consequences.
There are those in Europe who would call for negotiating with Al Qaeda - notably Mo Mowlam, Britain's former Northern Ireland Secretary. Romano Prodi seems defeatist as well. But the reaction that bin Laden got was far from positive - even from Prodi. Even Europeans skeptical of America can see that there can be no negotiations with mass murderers, and even Europeans who might want to purchase some relief from the new horror would find something debasing in saying that they do indeed want to negotiate. This is one of the few things that has put Italy, France, Germany and Britain on the same page, and that is heartening.
And we have Andrew Sullivan's nice and simple response:
MEMO TO OSAMA: Re: the "truce." Go fuck yourself.
I couldn't agree more. Bush or Kerry should say this to him sometime, I swear.
There are those in Europe who would call for negotiating with Al Qaeda - notably Mo Mowlam, Britain's former Northern Ireland Secretary. Romano Prodi seems defeatist as well. But the reaction that bin Laden got was far from positive - even from Prodi. Even Europeans skeptical of America can see that there can be no negotiations with mass murderers, and even Europeans who might want to purchase some relief from the new horror would find something debasing in saying that they do indeed want to negotiate. This is one of the few things that has put Italy, France, Germany and Britain on the same page, and that is heartening.
And we have Andrew Sullivan's nice and simple response:
MEMO TO OSAMA: Re: the "truce." Go fuck yourself.
I couldn't agree more. Bush or Kerry should say this to him sometime, I swear.
