Over at Fearless Philosophy For Free Minds is an excellent piece on why appeasement is not an option in the war on terror. And an answer to the question of what would happen if we gave the terrorist everything they wanted:
The new Islamic law will require dissolving the three branches of government and all the state governments. Representative government is against the will of Allah, therefore, all power will be vested in a Muslim Cleric who will be chosen by Allah. Those who choose to disobey the cleric?s laws will be promptly executed.
The rights of Life, Liberty, and Property shall be a thing of the past. Life can be taken away from any person at any time for any reason the Cleric sees fit. Americans will no doubt have to do a great deal of repenting for their past transgressions against Allah. The day may come when you are asked to strap a bomb to yourself or your child in order to kill as many infidels as you can (there will undoubtedly be some Americans who will want to revive the former constitutional republic). The only ?liberty? that shall be allowed in this new government is to live in accordance to the Quran as there is no liberty without Allah. All property which is repugnant to Allah shall be destroyed and be cleansed with the blood of the infidels and replaced with a mosque. The only limited property rights this government will allow is for men have property rights over women, because women shall have no rights whatsoever.
This isn’t about Israel. It isn’t about American troops in the Middle East. Its about a fight between the ideas of the Enlightenment and the ideas of 10th century Islam. I know which side I want to win.
