93

I had an opportunity to see “United 93” last night. More than anything else, this gut-wrenching history of the morning of September 11, 2001 is a reminder. On that morning, Islamofascists repeated their declaration of war against everything that is liberal and good in Western civilization -- against freedom of religion, against secular government, against freedom of the press, against feminism, against diversity, against a justice system that acts with deliberation rather than revenge, against the democratic process, against modernity.

But understand clearly, their declaration of war had been made before – many times before. In a comment posted at the Belmont Club, “Bohgie” notes that the Islamists keep telling us they are at war:

Iranian Hostage Taking
Beruit Hostage Taking
Beruit Embassy Bombing
Beruit Barracks Bombing
Achille Lauro
Pan Am Flight 103
Palestinian Intifada – I and II
Black September
Jordanian Uprisings
African Embassy Bombings
Cole Bombing
Innumerable suicide bombing against civilian targets
1st World Trade Center Bombing - 1993
2nd World Trade Center Destruction - 2001
Pentagon Bombing
Flight 93

Each of these acts was a declaration of war, and yet, a significant number of Americans refuse to believe that these acts are anything but criminal behavior. Better policing, better intelligence, better protections, and it will all go away, they think. “Give peace a chance,” they argue.

The most compelling part of United 93 is the silence that follows the movie’s conclusion – a silence so deep, so painful that it feels as if you’re drowning. Maybe during that silence, the screen black, the audience stunned, those who want to “give peace a chance" will have time to think – about the futility of appeasement, about the inability to negotiate with a irrational party, about the fact – plain and simple – that if we turn away, our enemy will not.