Our Perceived Weakness Gives Them Strength

This Powerline post from the 29th (regarding the Democrat's theory that being in Iraq has made us less safe) raised my ire and I have to vent. Why do you suppose the Dems can't see the connection between America's perceived weakness in the 90s and the rise of terrorism? I don't have the quote at hand, but didn't Osama Bin Laden at one point state in fairly blunt terms that America was a paper tiger? (Referring, I believe to Somolia.)

I have long asserted that, were I President Bush, even with all the other good reasons there were to go in and remove Saddam from power, the number one reason was to state to the thugs and terrorists of the world, "You can NOT f**k with us anymore!" Saddam was the standard bearer for little thugs and dictators who thought they could constantly poke and prod the USA (and the UN) and suffer no real consequence. He claimed victory in the first Gulf war. He toyed with the inspection regime. He built palaces while under sanctions. He shot at our aircraft. On and on.

Where I Osama Bin Laden, or Zarqawi, or any other terrorist or terrorist wannabe, I'd have been emboldened by Saddam's thumbing his nose at the USA and the rest of the world. No doubt they were. On the other hand, when his army was routed, and the US and her allies began killing terrorists and "insurgents" at an alarming rate, I might've used Iraq as a rallying cry, but I'd also have known that I was in a fight I could not win. At least not on the battlefield. It had to be easier to feel potent and powerful during the 90s than it feels now, when the best they can hope for is to blow up innocent Muslims to make their point, rather than killing masses of Americans. How impotent are you when your best offensive weapon is to kill your own just to show you can kill someone, instead of being able to defeat your enemy?

The Dems are dead wrong on this. I don't understand how they can believe we'd be safer by appearing weaker. Men of action (which, though in a demented way, the terrorists are) do not respect "dialog", and see it as weakness which emboldens them. I think it's intuitively obvious that the assertion that could be made, with evidence from the 90s to back it up, is that the dialog coming from the American left is precisely what is making us less safe. If the terrorists saw a strong and united America, with the rest of the free world standing squarely behind us, they would know there is no hope for them and their ability to recruit would be gone. It's the perceived weakness that gives the terrorists and Islamists hope that they can win, not demonstrations of strength.

The Dems are driving me nuts on this one.