On Both Sides of the Gate

Last night I was teaching the Parenting Class and the subject for the lesson was "Gangs." As I listened to the remarks of various people, many of whom had had close encounters with gangs, the parallels between gang activities and the modus operandi of terrorists struck me quite forcefully. Typically, gang members recruit through intimidation, 'forcing' a prospective recruit in joining by threatening him or his family with violence. Once in, of course, the gang pretty much devotes itself to creating havoc in the community it claims as its 'turf', starting with the gang members' own families. Naturally this kind of intimidation also keeps the neighborhood quiet as well, "Say anything and we'll get you."

Interestingly these are the same tactics that the 'insurgents' have been using in Iraq. They enter a community, kill a few people, kidnap a few more, and basically take the place over by reducing the locals to fearful, quiescent, compliant cooperators. This is what they are doing in the Sudan, this is what they did in Afghanistan. But it is not simply a question of "these" particular bad guys we don't like doing it to these other folks here or there. This is a pattern of how evil works in the world. This is what the Vietcong did in Vietnam. This is what the Gestapo did in Germany. This is what the Bolsheviks did in Russia. This is how evil cows people the world over. This is how civilization is stripped away and life becomes not worth living.

The Belmont Club has made the point that the so-called War on Terror is actually not a war on a method, nor is it a war against a revived Islamic Fascism, but a war against all those forms of criminal gangsterism that seek to create chaos in order that they might profit from them. This is an anti-civilizational movement that has always been with us. At the moment the focus on those criminal elements which hide behind the veneer of Islamic fundamentalism and are focused on the destruction of the United States. There are others, and although the US is certainly a popular target, it is not the only one.

The fact is that the forces that seek to destroy civilization are not just the ones we met in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on 9/11. Those same forces are alive and well in the midst of us, although their goals are not so grandiose, nor are their resources so vast. Consider the 18th Street Gang, which has become the largest gang in the country last I heard. They are engaged in drug trafficking, arms smuggling, murder, kidnapping, extortion, prostitution, etc. with links to the Mexican Mafia and other organized crime syndicates. They are alive and well and thriving in our midst. They are not alone. The toll from the activities of these terrorists (make no mistake about it!) within our own society in terms of money, lives and human suffering far exceeds that spilt in Iraq, yet not a voice is raised in complaint. It is positively surreal.

I've seen a lot of people yelling about the injustice of the United States being the world's policeman. Two points to make about this: 1. Policeman, police thyself; 2. before you dismiss the policeman from his beat, consider what the alternative is.