OTHER COMMENTARY / EXCERPTS : Appeasement Will Not Quell Terrorists

An air attack on one of the terrorist training centers in Libya, Lebanon or Iran is an inviting prospect. But, like all anti-terrorist military operations, to be effective as a deterrent such a mission would have to be completely successful. It would have to be a one-shot operation.

Let us suppose that it is successful. A terrorist training center is laid waste, the instructors and students are killed. What does the United States gain?

Americans may rejoice that the terrorists have been “taught a lesson.” But for how long? The sources of terrorism in the Middle East or, indeed, in Western Europe or anywhere else are too deep to be eliminated by a single raid, no matter how devastating. One raid or six raids will not eliminate terrorism.