Leadership: July 14, 2002

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The War on Terrorism is hobbled by one major American blind spot and that is the American reluctance to admit that the majority of the terrorists are foreign born Arab males. We get reminded of this blind spot every time we use an airport. Profiling is a dirty word, but Israel has shown it works. When was the last time anyone pulled off a terror hit on El Al, which is surely Target Number One among Arab terrorists. Fighting terrorists using self-imposed limitations is foolish and serves only failure. Of course, there are diplomatic reasons for avoiding this subject. Saudi Arabia at least tries to be our ally in this war, despite the fact that 15 of 19 September 11, 2001 attackers were Saudi citizens and the majority of money given to al Qaeda still comes from wealthy Saudis. The Saudis have to sell their oil to the West, or else their economy (and much support for the House of Saud) collapses. Politics makes strange bedfellows, but so does this War on Terrorism. 

 

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