The real Pakistan?

Andy McCarthy's contention that the "real Pakistan" killed Bhutto has already gotten plenty of attention, but not for it's conclusion:

Jihadists are not going to be wished away, rule-of-lawed into submission, or democratized out of existence. If you really want democracy and the rule of law in places like Pakistan, you need to kill the jihadists first.

That would be true, perhaps, if jihadism were an inherent trait -- say, like having arms. But that's not the case. Jihadism is an idea -- and there are other, competing ideas out there. It's important to compete on that basis -- killing people doesn't kill ideas, after all, and can actually aid their spread.

Yes, there are times when force must be met with force, but you're simply not going to be able to kill every single jihadi out there. The Army's counterinsurgency manual -- that was authored, in part, by Gen. David Petraeus -- recognizes this. Counterinsurgency (and it seems that terrorism is included under the umbrella) puts more emphasis on persuasion than on pulling triggers. So, no, radical fundamentalists won't be "rule-of-lawed into submission," but it might be possible to persuade some of them -- maybe even enough of them -- that the rule of law is desirable. But that's an approach that requires patience.

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