by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n
National Review Online<\/em><\/p>\n M<\/span>y grandfather, a lifelong viticulturalist, used to sigh that the great plague of his life \u2014 besides banks, shippers, and packers \u2014 was johnsongrass (holcus halepensis<\/i>). It is a perennial noxious weed, purportedly introduced into California as a range grass before it was found to be unsuitable for cattle and about everything else. Johnsongrass grows on the berms of the vineyard, where it cannot be reached by the disk or by any other farm implement in the row; indeed, while it can exist in barren fields, it prefers the culture of the vineyard, where it can much more readily find an easy livelihood through predation \u2014 and safety by proximity to civilized hosts.<\/span><\/p>\n Unlike the cultured vine that produces fresh grapes, wine, and raisins, johnsongrass creates nothing of any value: The weed’s sole purpose seems to be perpetuating its own species and drawing off nourishment from cultivated vines and trees that can scarcely survive on their own.\u00a0How do you fight an enemy that draws its nourishment from the very landscape it seeks to destroy?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Unchecked, the aggressive johnsongrass can grow almost six feet high. Its rhizomes sink a foot below the surface and spread laterally in a four- or five-foot radius. One never knows exactly how far or to what degree they have permeated the soil, until four or five new stalks suddenly burst forth. And even these rapacious, visible plants are still less impressive than their ever-expanding but hidden network of roots below. Because it need not produce edible fruit, the weed’s entire energy is devoted simply to its own voracious existence.\u00a0How do you fight an enemy that is growing unnoticed in your very midst?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Traditional cultivation and other methods of eradication are of no use. It is impossible to pull out the weed by hand \u2014 its sharp blades simply break off, as the razor-like edges cut into one’s fingers. Nor can johnsongrass be dug out \u2014 the cells of the root-like nodules only separate and scatter. Indeed, cutting and digging seem almost to stimulate rather than weaken the pest, as the remnants of cut roots will spread new colonies rather than die. In the late spring when the grass seeds out, the wind scatters its brood, spreading thousands of potential new weeds well beyond its original host. “Let one stalk go,” my grandfather used to sigh, “and in a year or two, dozens more will take over the entire row.”How do you fight an enemy that is multifaceted in its reproduction and cannot be eradicated by normal measures?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, entire vineyards used to be swallowed by johnsongrass. In those lost fields, the weeds could reach a height taller than the vines as the grass sucked out all the water and nitrogen from the beleaguered host vineyard, diminishing grape production by as much as a third and making harvest almost unworkable. Sometimes it was impossible to distinguish the host vine from the rogue weed, as the grass grew right up through the trellises and wires \u2014 weed and vine so intertwined you would almost have to destroy both to get at the pest. Desperate farmers who had let their vineyards grow rank had no choice but to continue to water and fertilize as before, in hopes that the strangled vines could at least draw off some nutrients from their rapacious intruders. Their lax efforts only made the problem worse for others, as the wind easily blew their mess over to neighbors’ clean vineyards.\u00a0How do you fight an enemy that some in desperation have simply let thrive and allowed to harm others?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n In the 1950s, the farm adviser’s operative advice was “control.” We farmers were to dig out the weed four or five times a season \u2014 sometimes spraying diesel or weed oil that would burn it down to the ground, on other occasions employing ineffective chemicals to sicken, but never to kill, the pest. I remember one stand of johnsongrass that seemed to be decades old, its roots an enormous ball that entirely surrounded, and had grown inside, the vine itself.How do you fight an enemy that has carved out enclaves of immunity?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n But a funny thing happened to johnsongrass. Plant pathologists and chemists came up with a new, bold strategy of going after the roots \u2014 not just the visible plant itself. If, in the past, digging and cutting had failed, if oils had burned back the leaves only, and if chemicals like parquat and amitrole had merely sickened the stalks, the solution was to be found in attacking the rhizomes themselves, deep beneath the soil and apparently safe.<\/span><\/p>\n So just about the time my grandfather died at 86, a wondrous new chemical, “Roundup,” was introduced, a systematic salt compound that proved at last fatal to the weed. It was sprayed on the leaf and absorbed by the plant, and then traveled into the roots, where it literally blew apart the entire machinery of the pest \u2014 killing as insidiously and stealthily as the weed itself had spread. The use of Roundup and its later descendants meant that within a few years, johnsongrass essentially disappeared from most well-kept vineyards. Once the roots had collapsed, the weed’s entire base of operations vanished: Without roots, the stalk did not sprout; without the stalk, there were no leaves or seeds; without seeds new weeds could not germinate. We at first thought the original price of Roundup was astronomical ($100\/gallon, in the early 1970s) \u2014 but soon learned that it was cheap in the long run, since it saved hours of digging, spraying, and cutting.<\/span><\/p>\n We have done an excellent job cutting back the stalks of terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere, for a time preventing the leaves from seeding out and spreading the plague of suicide-murdering and worse. And we are also told that our efforts to intercept terrorists on planes and ships have been successful, as other nations’ police have rounded up hundreds of operatives.<\/span><\/p>\n But such isolated successes will\u00a0never<\/i>\u00a0eradicate the danger until we eliminate the roots entirely. And that more difficult task can only be accomplished by changing the landscape of the Middle East, in which the rhizomes of terrorism grow deep. It is no accident that just as we were prepared to go beyond Afghanistan, other terrorist weeds with al Qaeda roots suddenly began suicide-murdering, bombing, and assassinating in the Middle East, Kashmir, and Pakistan, diverting our attention to peripheral wars and away from our main efforts to eradicate terrorists and their host regimes.<\/span><\/p>\n We should envision the world as divided into quadrants that either support or oppose al Qaeda and its brood. America and Europe, though belatedly, have now awoken to the danger, and are moving to uproot terrorism. India, with one-sixth of the planet’s population, is actively at war with Islamic fundamentalism. China, for all its triangulation, is deathly afraid of terror as well. In the last decade, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe \u2014 as former terrorist states themselves \u2014 were the world’s great supporters of guerrillas and freelance killers. No longer; they too are actively involved in the chase. So the world has shrunk and \u2014 except for the Islamic Middle East \u2014 is mostly hostile to the formation of terrorist cells. The last roots are the states \u2014 like Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Libya \u2014 that periodically send out new stalks among their neighbors.<\/span><\/p>\n The choice, then, is ours. We can chronically trim, dig, and cut back \u2014 preventing the terrorists from sprouting, seeding out, and spreading. Or, as with embracing the costly but systematic Roundup, we can decide now to blow apart its very roots, which are intertwined and so deeply entrenched in the very soil of the Middle East. Our efforts need not be solely military, but may be political and idealistic as well: working for democratic reform in the Gulf; explaining to the Syrians, Libyans, and Iranians that we consider them all captive peoples, who, like Eastern Europeans, suffer under the yoke of tyrannies and thus are deserving of our support for democratic revolution. We should seek out more liberal members of the Saudi royal family and explain to them that democratic reform alone can now prevent the collapse of their entire regime.<\/span><\/p>\n The latter systematic choice in the short-term \u2014 the ending of Saddam Hussein; ultimatums to Syria and Iran to cease their succor to Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, or else; a reckoning with the terrorist enclaves in Lebanon; a gradual dissolution of alliances with the autocracies of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan; subsidies to democratic reformers throughout the Middle East \u2014 is both unorthodox, frightening, and easily caricatured. But, in the long term, it offers the only hope of destroying weeds like al Qaeda for good. Anything less and we are simply pruning back a perennial pest.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a92002 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Attacking terrorism at its roots. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online My grandfather, a lifelong viticulturalist, used to sigh that the great plague of his life \u2014 besides banks, shippers, and packers \u2014 was johnsongrass (holcus halepensis).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[826],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1j4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13463,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-childs-world-of-animals-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":5026,"position":0},"title":"A Child’s World of Animals","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"San Joaquin Kit FoxImage by Peterson B Moose, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Part II. The Dark Grove In the 1880s when the eastern San Joaquin Valley began to be populated with vineyardists and orchard men, there was a shortage of construction-grade wood. Farmers needed\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 14 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 14 comments","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-childs-world-of-animals-3\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/San_Joaquin_kit_fox_male.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/San_Joaquin_kit_fox_male.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/San_Joaquin_kit_fox_male.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/San_Joaquin_kit_fox_male.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/San_Joaquin_kit_fox_male.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/San_Joaquin_kit_fox_male.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2399,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-vineyard-too-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":5026,"position":1},"title":"A Vineyard Too Far","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online By Sunday afternoon, the Gallup tracking poll showed a 17-point spread in the president\u2019s approval rating \u2014 38 percent approval to 55 percent disapproval. Such polls are fickle and can go up and down quickly, often depending on unwarranted and unfair perceptions and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economic Policy"","block_context":{"text":"Economic Policy","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/obama-administration\/economic-policy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1381,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/teachable-moments\/","url_meta":{"origin":5026,"position":2},"title":"Teachable Moments","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Why we know socialism works for the few, not the many. by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner Moveable Feast: From Marbella to Martha\u2019s Vineyard Is not there some old Harry Truman Democrat still around to advise the new Democratic aristocracy to live it down a bit in these tough times?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "August 2010"","block_context":{"text":"August 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/august-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13613,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-childs-garden-of-animals-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":5026,"position":3},"title":"A Child\u2019s Garden of Animals","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ Private Papers Part Two: The Fear of and Reverence for the \u201cHoop Snake\u201d For the next week after that warning about hoop snakes on the prowl as veritable animal unicyclists, I looked hourly for hoop snakes\u2014shovel in hand\u2014but never found a single one or even their\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 19 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 19 comments","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-childs-garden-of-animals-3\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/HoopSnake.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/HoopSnake.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/HoopSnake.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1088,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/postmodern-populism\/","url_meta":{"origin":5026,"position":4},"title":"Postmodern Populism","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner Newt\u00a0Gingrich\u00a0soaring in the polls 90 days ago \u2014 with an inspired strategy of critiquing Obama, reprimanding the left-wing media during the debates, playing down his ego while showing mastery of the issues, and calling for an end to internecine bickering \u2014 stumbled for a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Punditry"","block_context":{"text":"Punditry","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/punditry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12545,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-new-old-obama\/","url_meta":{"origin":5026,"position":5},"title":"The New Old Obama","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ American Greatness In his latest incarnation as president emeritus and corporate multimillionaire community activist, we are reminded of the earlier Barack Obama of \u201cget in their face,\u201d \u201ctake a gun to a knife fight,\u201d and \u201cpunish our enemies\u201d vintage. From time to time, Obama ventures from\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5026"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5026"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5027,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5026\/revisions\/5027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}