The Old Grey Mayor takes on the Old Grey Lady. (That's Ed Koch vs. the NYT)

Do Terrorists Prefer One Candidate Over Another?

The Times editorial went on to say that “It is absolutely not all right for anyone on [President Bush’s] team to suggest that Mr. Kerry is the favored candidate of the terrorists.” But shouldn't the real question be, "Do terrorists in fact prefer one candidate over another?"

No one is suggesting that Islamic terrorists approve of any American presidential candidate, all of whom are Christians. According to Bernard Lewis, America's foremost scholar on Islam, “The Wahhabi demand, as far as I know, is not that Christians and Jews convert to Islam, but that they accept the supremacy of Islam and the rule of the Muslim state. On that condition, they may continue in the practice of their religion.”

But just as I and millions of Americans believe Kerry and Bush differ in their approaches to international terrorism, you can be certain that bin Laden, al-Zarqawi and other Islamic terrorists recognize these differences. Surely they know which presidential candidate would be more likely to wage war against them and the countries that harbor them, with or without United Nations support, and pursue them until they are defeated.