Essays

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the cause of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon?
• What must America do to intellectually restore itself?
• What is the common trait of Anti-American Groups?
• What should America do in response to physical attacks on its people and property?
• What is the proper response to the intellectual attacks on its principles?
• Won't retaliation against terrorist groups and states escalate the "never-ending cycle of violence"?
• Isn't one man's terrorist another man's freedom fighter?

What is the cause of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon?
In one sense, the cause of the slaughter of Americans on September 11th is the American policy of the past 50 years of cowardice, compromise, and appeasement against those who spit on and slaughter Americans. Terrorists, and the governments that support them, gleefully know that they can kill Americans, because America's leaders care more about the "world opinion" at the United Nations, the "innocents" that dictators shield themselves behind, and the mindless chanting of college hippies, than they care about the life, liberty, and happiness of American citizens. America is afraid to defend itself because America is morally disarmed. As long as America lacks a sense of moral certainty and absolute conviction--robbed from it by the very intellectuals who should be its protectors. No matter how much military power and economic wealth America possesses, it will be unable to act. Without this moral certainty America will be paralyzed from acting, and will only further embolden and empower her enemies by conceding moral defeat.

Isn't one man's terrorist another man's freedom fighter?
The source of this dishonest claim is the concept of moral relativism--that their are no moral absolutes. This results in the moral relativist's failure to differentiate between those who initiate force, and those who retaliate against the use of force in self-defense. This difference is easily concretized by differentiating the actions of Israel from those of Palestinians in the West Bank: Israel's attack militiamen and terrorists (innocent civilians are killed by accident, if at all); Palestinian terrorists attack not just Israeli police, but go after civilian men, women, and children.

Contrary to terrorist sympathizers, on the right and left, "grievances" over American foreign policy are not an excuse to murder a single American, let alone tens of thousands. Today's Islamic terrorists, oppose the peace and prosperity brought by Western civilization, and its three pillars: reason, the pursuit of happiness (self-interest), and laissez-faire capitalism (for details see Professor Leonard Peikoff's Ominous Parallels). This is why the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center--it is the symbol of Western Civilization-- and conversely why they did not attack the United Nations. They are not freedom fighters, but destroyers of civilization.

What is the common trait of Anti-American Groups?
The common trait of these groups is hatred of America for her virtues. America's enemies hate her because of her moral and economic superiority. They hate America for being the good. They hate America, because America is based on the individualistic principle of the selfish pursuit of personal happiness here on earth, and stands opposed to the collectivist principle of the "sacrifice of the individual to the good of the collective."

We see Americans principles demonstrated in every facet of American life: in the pursuit of profit and to "make money"; in admiration of heroes like Michael Jordan and Bill Gates; in the building of skyscrapers like the World Trade Center; in the pursuit of happiness here on earth--as demonstrated by the enjoyment of sex as something that is good.

Sadly, we see opposition to American principles demonstrated by as well--by government officials who want to have the heads of productive businessmen, like Bill Gates, on a plate, while arguing to let rapists and muggers go free as "victims of society"; by religionists who decry that it is "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to go to heaven"; by college professors who deride the principle of individual rights as "euro-centrism"; and by uneducated college vandals who "march against capitalism" in Seattle.

This is why America's enemies, both domestic and abroad, attack the cause of that freedom intellectually--as in the intellectuals opposition to the universality of American political principles and their support of anti-American principles--and why they attack the effects of that freedom physically--as demonstrated by the destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon.

What must America do to intellectually restore itself?
To fight terrorism, America must rediscover its morality: in politics this means the principle of individual rights, and everything it represents: life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness here on earth. Americans must realize that her economic prosperity is a result of America's moral superiority. America must realize that as long as it is defending the inalienable rights of the individual, America stands on the moral high ground, regardless of the opinion of "sovereign," barbaric, U.N.-sanctioned dictatorships who enslave their own people.

What is the proper response to the intellectual attacks on America's principles?
An intellectual assault requires an intellectual response. In this case, it means the exposure of American university professors, reporters, and all others opposed to America for the evil that they are.  This properly is not the domain of government, but the domain of private citizens. The best that the government and private citizen's can do is to stop funding those who assault American values--such as those in the United Nations and those in America's universities, i.e., collectivist-altruist professors at Harvard, Duke, Brown, Stanford, etc.

What should America do in response to physical attacks on its people and property?
America should not treat this as a criminal act of a few individuals, but an act of war by governments. America should act rationally with overwhelming military force. America should destroy not just individual terrorists, but all branches of the governments who harbor, finance, or lend support to those who slaughter Americans--including the monsters who will shield themselves behind innocents, i.e. Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Libya. Let any barbaric nation that seeks to violate the rights of American citizens be paralyzed with the fear and terror of knowing with absolute certainty what will happen to them, if they so much as touch an American. 

Won't retaliation against terrorist groups and states escalate the "never-ending circle of violence"?
This argument typically follows the following pattern: " Hitler invaded Poland, so if England retaliates, then if we retaliate, our actions will only anger him further." Such an argument conflates the proper response to Hitler's actions--to retaliate against him--as the cause of Hitler's actions. The truth is, an initiator of force, like Hitler, does not make war because of force; he initiates force against others because of pacifism. That is, he sees an easy victim that won't fight back. What happens if one responds to a terrorist act by "turning the other cheek"? If the terrorist knows you have the physical power to destroy him, but lack the courage to do so, he knows you are "weak." This only emboldens him to commit more acts of terrorism. The only solution to ending the "circle of violence" is to break the circle once and for all, by using force against those who start violence.  Pacifism on principle is suicide; retaliation against the use of force is the only practical--and moral--option.