“”
“I remember a couple of days after September 11 writing in some column or other that weepy candlelight vigils were a cop-out: the issue wasn’t whether you were sad about the dead people but whether you wanted to do something about it. Three years on, that’s still the difference. We can all get upset about dead children, but unless you’re giving honest thought to what was responsible for the slaughter your tasteful elegies are no use.”
“”
“Even though the court forbade Milosevic and Seselj from actively campaigning in the Serbian election, they somehow managed to. In other words, ‘international law’ is unable to enforce its judgments even in its own jailhouse.”
“”
“Despite the best efforts of Western doom-mongers to rouse the Arab street, its attitude will remain: start the jihad without me.”
“”
“Saddam’s hardcore thugs were able to round up their POWs, get out the camcorder, murder them, defile their corpses and get the footage from a relatively remote part of the country to the studio while the blood was still warm on the dungeon floor. As with the Daniel Pearl execution tape vis-à-vis Osama, it invites the question: If they can do this, where’s the boss? The speed of this revolting production suggests that, if the Iraqi leadership aren’t making video appearances, it’s not because of technical difficulties, it’s because they’re not in a condition to be filmed.”
“”
“My problem with ‘old Europe’ is that it’s taken on the characteristic of its capital’s most famous statue: a small boy who just stands there pissing 24 hours a day.”
“”
“A nation that can’t defend itself isn’t a nation anymore.”
“”
“The yellow-ribbon era died with September 11: even if their television networks haven’t quite adjusted, Americans are tougher about these things; this is a country at war and one that understands how to absorb losses and setbacks.”
“”
“Europe, for one, hasn’t caught up to it: when it comes to Saddam, the Continentals are like the passengers on those first three planes; they’re thinking he’s a rational guy, just play it cool and he won’t pull anything crazy.”
“”
“Today the United States is the last religious country in the western world, the last in which a majority of the population are practising believers. By contrast, in all the jurisdictions where one church was formally or informally tied to the state -- England, Ireland, France, Spain, Quebec, you name it -- religious observance has withered away to statistically insignificant numbers.”
“”
“If war isn’t underway by the beginning of autumn, George W. Bush might as well nickname himself President Juan Term.”
“”
“All civilized people can agree that killing Jews is wrong. Well, killing six million of them 60 years ago is wrong. Killing a couple of dozen every 48 hours or so, that’s a different matter.”
“”
“It’s easier for a Palestinian to emigrate to Toronto and become a subject of the Queen than to emigrate to Riyadh and become a subject of King Fahd.”
