The struggle for a doctrine

A must-read article in the NYT Magazine, ostensibly a paean to Kerry. However, the sub-theme is the liberals search for an alternative to the Bush doctrine:

What Kerry still has not done is to articulate clearly a larger foreign-policy vision, his own overarching alternative to Bush's global war on terror.

The article makes clear that it isn't just Kerry who hasn't articulated an alternative view.

Inside liberal think-tanks, there are Democratic foreign-policy experts who are challenging some of Bush's most basic assumptions about the post-9/11 world -- including, most provocatively, the very idea that we are, in fact, in a war. But Kerry has tended to steer clear of this conversation, preferring to attack Bush for the way he is fighting terrorism rather than for the way in which he perceives and frames the threat itself.

The article helpfully attempts to crystallize this for Kerry. Suffice to say, if you believe that the UN, summits, diplomacy and sops to Arab strongmen are the way to reduce terrorism, this is the doctrine for you. A overly-simplistic view is presented of the current approach and on the differences between conservative views on the War on Terror and liberal views:

Fundamentally, Bush sees the war on terror as a military campaign, not simply to protect American lives but also to preserve and spread American values around the world; his liberal critics see it more as an ideological campaign, one that will turn back a tide of resentment toward Americans and thus limit the peril they face at home.

My critique is that people who believe that resentment is the motivating force behind Islamic terrorism haven't read or paid attention to what the terrorists are saying today (see the very first terror debate post for an example). Look at the terror that's occurred during the past 60 days -- Islamic sponsored terrorism: planes in Russia, schoolhouse in Beslan, Consulates in Indonesia, beheadings in Iraq, bombings in Egypt and Israel. The horse has left the barn - whatever "resentment" has engendered, we are well past the point where simply attempting to soothe it is going reduce Islamic fascism and terrorism.