Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Weakness and Strength

"Terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength. They are invited by the perception of weakness" -- Dick Cheney

With all due respect to the Veep, this is not an either-or proposition.

The perception of weakness can invite attack from those who already want to attack us, but by itself it does not create that desire.

The use of strength can give would-be attackers pause, but when used to excess it can lead to an increase in the number of people who want to attack us.

Statements like this from Mr. Cheney divide our nation by creating a false dichotomy between those who want to project strength and those who don't want to sow the seeds of the next crop of terrorists.

A divided nation is a weakened nation and black and white thinking like Mr. Cheney's just increases that divisiveness.

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