The nominee to lead the new Department of Terror was a soft-spoken, balding professor in his fifties with no military experience, yet the pundits and congressional leaders quietly agreed that he was precisely the man for the job. The bill creating the new department had faced fierce opposition from an embittered minority in both houses, but their voices had been ignored by the large majority, who knew only too well the mood of their constituents. Today the Senate was holding a hearing on the fitness of the nominee, a classified hearing, of course, from which the press had been excluded.

The room was stifling hot, the air stagnant. Occasionally the lights flickered. Since the explosion last week at the Potomac Power Plant, emergency electrical power had been intermittent. Even when the power was on, the capitol's environmental system required more current than there was available, so it remained off.

“I understand you have a statement, Professor,” the chairman said.

“Yes, sir.”

“Go ahead, please.”

The professor began: “For the last ten years, since the atrocity on September 11, 2001, the civilized world has been under attack from Islamic fundamentalists. They have murdered tens of thousands of innocent people, disrupted the world's economy, and forced businesses and governments at every level to devote precious resources to physical security. In effect, the civilized world is paying a terrorism tax.

“The terrorists have no agenda, no points upon which governments can negotiate. Nor do they nominally control any governments upon which the allied nations can bring pressure, either political, economic, or military. The root of the problem is the attempt by Islamic clerics to preserve their own power in what they believe is a way of life dictated by the Koran. This way of life is anathema to the civilized west, which disagrees with every single tenet of fundamental Islam. Everywhere the west impinges upon Islamic society, change is inevitable. The clerics demand obedience from the faithful, have declared jihad , have promised paradise to those who die murdering the nonbelievers.

“The parallels to the Christian Crusades of the Middle Ages are obvious and have been commented upon ad nauseum, yet there is a truth buried in there that I believe must be commented upon: It took a thousand years for western civilization to wrest power from the clerics and turn it over to secular government, which is one of the preconditions for intellectual freedom, scientific research, and the freedom to innovate, all essentials of this western civilization that feeds, clothes and houses a huge percentage of the world's population. Even the most incurable optimist must agree that a similar transition in the Islamic world will take centuries. Gentlemen, we don't have centuries. The voters have done enough bleeding.”

The professor went on, listed some of the major atrocities of the last ten years, some of the more prominent clerics, and major government initiatives to combat the terrorists, then said, “I am ready for your questions, Mr. Chairman.”

The chairman cleared his throat, whispered to an aide, then said, “Professor, if the senate confirms your nomination, what policies will you advocate to solve the problem -- no, problem is the wrong word -- the plague of terrorism?”

The professor was ready for that one. “For ten years governments have tried to combat terrorism as a crime. They have failed to convict even a small fraction of the terrorists they catch. The crimes are international and are committed by people sworn to secrecy and ready to die for their cause. The perpetrators are aided by sympathizers who lie or refuse to testify, and they are tried by juries frightened for their lives. The criminal codes and rules of procedure have proven woefully inadequate to handle this crisis. In short, terrorism is not a crime, it is an act of war, and must be treated as such.

“Conventional military responses have also proven futile. Smashing third world governments because they tolerate or refuse to combat terrorists hasn't solved anything. In fact, it makes the clerics stronger because they no longer have to compete for power with secular authorities. The people are left to choose between the mosques or anarchy. Clearly, we must go in other directions.”

When the professor paused for a sip of water, the chairman asked, “What other directions?”

“By definition, terrorism is a surprise armed attack on unarmed people going about the business of life,” the professor said. “The people who do it to us have up to now rightly assumed that we will not do it to them. We have attempted to build legal cases against the perpetrators, have tried to find and arrest those we believe responsible and bring them to justice. When we have actually identified terrorists, we have launched military expeditions to kill or apprehend them. This is like trying to shoot fleas with a cannon. We need to turn the world upside down. We need to declare war on the terrorists. We need to attack them, attack those who fund and support them -- we need to attack the obsolete theocracy that spawns these agents of the devil.”

The professor paused to ensure he had the attention of every member of the committee, then said, “If confirmed by the senate, I will undertake to attack and destroy the terrorists with terror.” He warmed to his subject. “The only way to put a stop to terror is to defeat the clerics, to break their hold on the people. We will target the mosques. We will wait until they are full of people, then flatten them with cruise missiles. We will randomly attack hospitals and schools, markets, shops and factories, basically disrupt life until the people are reduced to abject poverty and starvation, without medical facilities or clean water or transportation or communication. The clerics will either be dead or powerless.”

The committee chairman yielded to the senior senator of the opposition party, a white-haired man named Franklin. “You are a hard man,” Senator Franklin observed.

“They have declared holy war on us,” the nominee shot back. “We must declare war on them, then wage it with a will, with all our might. Not with a bomb here, a bullet there, but with overwhelming force and all the resources we can muster. We will destroy Islam as it currently exists.”

“Have you ever seen a dead body, guts and brains smashed out?”

“No, senator, I haven't. When my son came home from Iraq, the coffin was sealed.” A moment of stark silence followed that remark.

“I have seen bodies, sir,” Senator Franklin remarked to the silent chamber. “I know what war is, and it isn't what you advocate. I too have lost friends to terrorism, and the sons and daughters of friends. Any yet, the course of action you recommend disgusts me. It is unworthy of a great nation. It is unworthy of the American people.”

“Senator, with all respect for the office you hold, I have heard nothing from you or your political friends that will put an end to terrorism. The American people have had enough! The time has come to fight fire with fire, which is the reason I am here today. I have sworn to the president that if I am confirmed, I will not shrink from my duties. I will smite the enemy hip and thigh.”

“I find these Biblical allusions grotesque, professor.”

“I apologize if I have offended you, sir.”

“And so you will reduce the Islamic world to rubble, leaving the surviving children to search through the rubble like rats for food… after that, what then?”

“If they want more holy war,” the nominee said slowly, emphasizing every word, “we must give it to them. We did not declare war on them -- they declared it on us.”

“Oh, no!” Senator Franklin roared. “Oh, no. A few fanatics carry out murderous criminal attacks, but the vast majority of the people in the Arab world have not raised a hand against us.”

“I beg to differ. They harbor the clerics who preach this poison. They pay for terrorism, they provide the jihad soldiers, they cheer the atrocities in the streets and in the mosques. They are not our friends, senator, nor are they neutral. They are our enemies and we will not win this war until we recognize and act on that fact.”

The senator was unconvinced. “The way to stop terrorism is to help the secular governments of the Arab world provide education, jobs and a decent living for their citizens.”

“You say that, sir,” the professor shot back, “as if the governments of these nations lived on a distant planet. The governments are the people; their policies reflect precisely what the people want.”

“Do you believe the American people want their government and armed forces to become terrorists?” the senator demanded.

“The American people do not want to be victims of terror, senator. They don't want their children murdered by wild-eyed religious fanatics trying to sneak into a perverted paradise. And they have a right to act to prevent that from happening. The president has asked me to lead the Department of Terror, and I agreed. I will act for and on behalf of the American people -- that I promise you. I will not be squeamish, I will not shirk from what has to be done, and I will sit before you from time to time and tell you precisely what we did and how we did it.”

“For that we are grateful,” Senator Franklin said sarcastically. “But what if, despite your best efforts at murder and mayhem, the Islamic holy warriors continue to attack us?”

“If terrorism fails, Senator, I will recommend to the president that the survivors be pushed into the deserts and isolated. Without food and water, they will quickly perish.”

“You are advocating genocide?”

“No, sir. I am advocating self-defense. If the believers in Islam cannot adapt to civilization, they have selected themselves out of the gene pool. We are merely going to hasten them on their way to whatever God has waiting.”

In the silence that followed that remark the chairman said, “I think we have asked enough questions,” and whacked his gavel.

He scanned the faces of the other senators. “I move that this committee recommend to the full senate that the professor be confirmed for the office of secretary of the Department of Terror.”

The motion was seconded.

“All in favor raise your hand,” the chairman said. “All opposed… The ayes have it.”