Douglas A. Borer

And, what do you know? in the course of researching my previous posting, I discovered that John Arquilla is not even unique in his views among the faculty of the Monterey, California Naval Postgraduate School. Its Department of Defense Analysis is a little hotbed of Peace Studies.

In addition to Mr. Arquilla, it includes assistant professor Douglas A. Borer, who, on last January 24th in the Christian Science Monitor, also editorialized that, in response to Osama bin Laden’s truce offer, the president needs to decide whether to stick to the moribund old cliché “we don’t negotiate with terrorists,” or whether he should use this as a potential opportunity to redirect global politics along a path that serves US national interests. … (that) even if negotiations fail, we may have more to gain than to lose by exploring peace.

Certain professors of defense analysis seem to overlook the fact that only four and half years ago, dozens of Americans were forced to choose between jumping from 90 floors, or burning to death. The United States has no honorable alternative to avenging their deaths upon the persons responsible. There is nothing moribund or clichéd about our government having the basic decency to refuse to bargain with bin Laden.