MATTHEW YGLESIAS ON HOMELAND SECURITY:

It seems to me that no matter what we do, some people somewhere will still be able to pull off a devastating attack sooner or later. The answer to the terrorist problem isn’t trying to devise foolproof counterterrorism measures, it’s defeating the Islamist ideology that inspires the attackers. Going on the offense, (a) kills terrorists, thereby making it harder for them to attack us (b) deters states and other powerful figures from sponsoring terrorism, and most importantly (c) shows that hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings doesn’t make America give in — it makes America topple your regime. Going on defense, on the other hand, makes us look weak. It makes it look like if the terrorists can foil our new, better, homeland security that maybe then we’d give in. That means they’ll try to foil our new, better, homeland security. And you know what? They’ll be able to. There’s only so much security an open society can provide. We need to go out into the world, into the regimes that sponsor this sort of garbage — Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority — and find newer, better, governments over there. They definitely cannnot defeat the United States’ military power, especially when you take into account our ability to vastly expand that power if we see fit. Playing terrorist vs. counterterrorist is their game, though, and they’ve shown us that they can play pretty damn well.

Well said.