It's Radical Islamic Terrorism. And Yet, When

Even In Its Third Century, America Is Still The Most Meritocratic Nation In The World.

For All The Criticism About Warlords, It Is Now Likely That Afghanistan Will Never Again Be Turned Over To Al Qaeda To Train Thousands To Conduct The Type Of Murder We Saw On September 11. For All Real Problems With Ambushes And Sabotage, There Will Be No More Gassings, Mass Murdering, Invading Neighbors, Sending Guided Missiles Across Borders Or No-fly Zones In Iraq, But Rather The Hard Work Of Consensual Government - A Difficult Process Easily Caricatured, But When Completed Universally Admired.

Ignorance And Arrogance Are A Lethal Combination. Nowhere Do We See That More Clearly Among Writers And Performers Who Pontificate As Historians When They Know Nothing About History.

Westernization, Coupled With Globalization, Has Created An Affluent And Leisured Elite That Now Gravitates To Universities, The Media, Bureaucracies, And World Organizations, All Places Where Wealth Is Not Created, But Analyzed, Critiqued, And Lavishly Spent.

Our Institutions, If They Do Not Erode Entirely, Can Survive Periods Of Decadence Brought On By Our Material Success, Eras When The Whole Notion Of Civic Militarism Seems Bothersome, And In Which Free Speech Is Used To Focus On Our Own Imperfections Without Concern For The Ghastly Nature Of Our Enemies.