Nightmare Scenario: Beslan Goes West

On the frantic morning of Sept. 11, 2001, my panicked thoughts turned to my son, then a student at a Jewish day school. The day erased the predictable order of life; was he in danger? Would another wave of attacks threaten Jewish institutions such as schools?

Nothing happened that day, but the dreadful events at a school in Beslan, Russia, in September 2004 confirmed that terrorists have utterly no qualms about attacking children. Over 330 were killed in the bungled rescue effort, half of them children.

Now, the rhetoric and violence are escalating with the cartoon convulsions. The West has shown remarkable restraint in the face of attacks and violent threats. My fear is that, spurred on by their blood-lust against enemies all around, Islamists will play out another Beslan scenario as the outrage that will snap the West's muted reactions to Beslan, the London bombings, French riots, and other provocations. Against this background, the U.S. response to 9-11 was an anomaly.

Even the Russians -- never dainty in their response to attacks -- avoided revenge, despite great speculation that that would happen. [If I'm wrong on this, please correct me.]

This new wave of Islamist demonstrations and calls for death and beheading are raising the level of violence, both in rhetoric and action, with the burning of embassies and murder of a Catholic priest in Turkey. It strikes me that the Islamists are baiting the bears, daring them to respond. Can it be that they're disappointed with the still-orderly and rational Western approach?

Already, Islamists are using images of children in their response to the cartoon wars, such as a drawing of Anne Frank in bed with Adolph Hitler.

Think of the nightmare scenario that would link cartoon demands with unbearable pressure points. Say terrorists take over a school in Denmark or Holland, or multiple locations.

Then they issue a statement: "Turn over the cartoonists for Islamic justice within 24 hours or we'll kill the children. We're prepared to die ourselves." In fact, the first part of this theoretical statement has already been issued in the last few hours.

Then what? Beslan showed the ability of terrorists to act exactly on these threats. Talk? Attack? What's the level of acceptable casualties? The rhetorical heat is unbearably high, the Islamist steam engine ready to blow up and it could blow in such a direction.

If such a scenario plays out -- even more so than train bombings or embassy burnings -- then an all-out War of the Worlds will draw closer than ever.