Converging on the center

Without offense there is no war. This is as true for terrorists as for conventional armies. Today terrorists set off a number of bombs in the Egyptian resort city of Dahab kiilling more than 20 people mostly Egyptians:

(CNN) — Twenty-three people, including three foreigners, were killed and 62 others were wounded Monday in terrorist bombings in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Dahab, the Egyptian interior minister said. Habib al-Adly said that 42 of the wounded are Egyptian and three are members of the police. In a written statement, he said the dead included 20 Egyptians and three foreigners, including a German child and two victims of unknown nationality. The statement said the 20 foreigners who were wounded include three Danes, three Britons, two Italians, two Germans and one each from the United States, France, Korea, Lebanon, Israel and Australia. The nationalities of the other victims were not specified.

Others have noted that this attack comes hard on the heels of the most recent audio tape ostensibly from Osama Bin Laden. Although the declaration of war against the West was reiterated in the tape we might well remember that we’re not the focus of the attention. The real audience is the Muslim world and the more desperate to garner the attention of that world that Al Qaeda becomes the more likely attacks both against us and against softer targets in the Muslim world become.

It’s more difficult to carry on a coherent offense than to mount a strong defense especially when you’re in a position of weakness. The essential problem that the Islamist terrorists have is that they must attack for there to be a war, the more they attack us the weaker they become, and the more they attack their fellow Muslims the faster they lose support that they require to maintain their existence.

UPDATE:  Donald Sensing puts it well over at WoC:

Osama bin Laden accused the West of making war upon Islam, but he’s making the real war upon Muslims.