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The World at War
(Telegraph-UK) Editorial - As one of the Islamic fanatics who inspired al-Qaeda said: "We are not trying to negotiate with you. We are trying to destroy you." They wish to destroy the whole basis of Western society - secular democracy, individual liberty, equality before the law, toleration, and pluralism - and replace it with a theocracy based on a perverted and dogmatic interpretation of the Koran. That is why the suggestion that we should try to negotiate with such terrorists is so fatuous: there is nothing whatever to negotiate about. The idea that we should try to appease the terrorists is wrong in every respect. It would not protect us, for nothing acts as a greater incentive to terrorists than the realization that their target is weak and frightened. And it would only weaken the institutions we are trying to protect, and demonstrate to the terrorists that we are - as they frequently allege - too decadent and craven to defend the way of life to which we claim to be attached.