Oliphant says he is generally supportive of fighting the jihadis. I know little of Oliphant. My impression of him isn't one of support but I concede I don't follow his work--only noting it when someone else notes it and links. I admit that this will lead to just the most outrageous statements.
Nonetheless, what to make of this:
HH: But if they had had, for example, radioactive material with which to make a dirty bomb or a biological agent like anthrax, do you think they would have used them in the course of doing this?
TO: Not necessarily, because what we're not understanding is the choices that are being made inside terrorist cells today. I understand theories and generalizations. But I think when the rubber meets the road, you're encountering real terrorists with very specific plans. There's no question in my mind that you're right, that many of the people involved in international terrorism would gladly used a weapon of mass destruction if they had one at their fingertips. What ought to disturb us, because it is going on right now, it that there appears to be a trend toward the selection of soft targets, and the acceptance of casualties, forty, fifty, is a major event to them now. And if this trend gets further established, the loss of life is going to be substantial over time.
Oliphant seems to be saying that while many terrorists would use a nuke if they had it, the rest (majority?) have specific plans that are now tending toward "soft targets" (and just when wasn't their target list composed of civilians??) with specific plans. Oliphant seems to be arguing that the enemy is deliberately choosing to kill only a couple score at a time for some political purpose.
I don't know what theories and generalizations Oliphant is talking about, but my reading of the enemy is that they want to kill as many of us as possible and that there is no message being sent.
Or rather, the message is they want all of us dead and would we please be a little more cooperative about dying. Like the Spanish who have sportingly agreed to take their place in line while the actual fighters are targeted by the jihadis.
Our message back needs to be, "No, you first." Just kill the jihadis.
No regrets, people. This is a battle to the death and I want it to be their deaths.
