Michael B. Mukasey Served As United States Attorney General from 2007 to 2009, and As A

Michael B. Mukasey served as United States attorney general from 2007 to 2009, and as a United States district court judge for the southern district of New York from 1988 to 2006.

Updated July 17, 2016, 3:11 AM

It happens sometimes that a public figure feeling a need to comment in response to a crisis blurts out something that shames himself and his constituents. Such was the fate of French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who started out well enough on Friday when he said that France “will not give in to the terrorist threat,” but then added, “Times have changed, and France is going to have to live with terrorism, and we must face this together and share our collective sang-froid. France is a great country and a great democracy, and we will not allow ourselves to be destabilized.”

Queldommage; quelleabsurdité.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls blurted out something that shames himself and his constituents.

Terrorism -- of the Islamist variety, which we are likely to find we are dealing with here -- is not a fairly static and statistical phenomenon, like automobile accidents or slips in the bathtub, which our own president, in a Valls-like moment, reminded us claim more lives than terrorism. It results from the purposeful conduct of people who are motivated by two things: an overly literal reading of Islamic scripture, and success.

Their goal is to impose their will on the world -- or as much of it as possible -- by shaking the confidence of citizens that their governments can do what governments principally are there for, which is to keep them safe. The more successful attacks terrorists mount, the more adherents they attract. Neither automobile accidents nor bathtub slips have that effect.

We can support those who do not embrace a view that leads to terrorism, and not credential apologists for the contrary view; and we can do something about the success part. That means gathering intelligence not simply to strengthen our defenses, but to go on offense. Because the United States remains the world’s only superpower, that is likely to mean that we would bear the principal burden.

If we don’t do anything, we can take Valls’s advice, and learn to live with terrorism until we learn to die with it.