Will Grigg's Liberty Minute

September 28, 2007

The book The Starfish and the Spider describes the Australian government's effort to protect the Great Barrier Reef from an exploding starfish population. Divers were sent to kill as many starfish as possible by cutting them in half.

However, because of its unique anatomy, a severed starfish simply duplicates itself. Cutting starfish into fragments simply produced a bigger population.

Leaderless human organizations behave in a similar fashion. For instance, Islamic terrorism is a leaderless movement that replicates much like the starfish population. Simply killing Muslim radicals in great numbers won't end the threat. In fact, sober intelligence assessments document that the war in Iraq has abetted the growth of Muslim radicalism.

Defenders of that war insist that we should kill ?them? there rather than fight them here. But this makes as much sense as trying to save the Barrier Reef by cutting up starfish. Insurgent Islam is a challenge that can't be addressed using the blunt instrument of military force.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.