Are we willing to win the war?

5/7/04.

(Note: An edited, shortened version of this was published in the Marietta Daily Journal Newspaper, Letters to the Editor, under the title of: "We can win the war on terror, but do we really want to win?" 5/16/04.

We all have been watching the truly terrible pictures coming out of Iraq. The events pictured are not so much torture as humiliation. But to the Islamic peoples of the area, this humiliation at the hands of the hated Americans and especially American WOMEN is as bad if not worse than the real torture that existed under Saddam.

We are all going to have to pay a price for the excessive behavior of a few non-representative soldiers in the wrong place at the wrong time. The commanding general, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski has shown the "proper"(read: Politically Correct) response for someone in a position of leadership today--It's not my fault--I didn't know it was happening- without seeming to understand that it is indeed her responsibility. She was in a position to influence the troops under her command and played ostrich instead. If she didn't have enough information about what was going on durring her watch, then she should have. This is inexcusable and should be punished with at least discharge. That is not the end of the problem by a long shot. The perpetrators need to be tried and if found guilty of this inhumanity, punished. The sentences need to be severe and public. The infamous Abu Ghraib prison should be loudly and visibly destroyed--possibly even with a public tank display.

That said, however, we must also know that we cannot allow ourselves to fall into a breast beating orgy of self hatred. The incredibly large majority of our troops represent us in a manner that any rational American would be proud to observe. Their self restraint and reasoned response to the most intense provocation is impressive to say the least.

There are many events occurring in Iraq that are of concern to me. I am not happy to be turning over the creation of the governing body of Iraq to U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. He has already demonstrated his biases publicly to be very anti-American and by extension anti democratic.
I am not happy with the change in the de-Baathification of Iraq. I am not happy with the handling of the siege of Fallujah. The president's "bring them on" comment should have applied here if anywhere. The military commanders should have allowed the resisters to "bring it on" and then take them out. Fully.

The most damaging thing I have seen is the joy with which the press and the Democrats (sometims redundant) have used these pictures to attempt to destroy the president and his party. If someone had behaved this way in World War II, they would have been recognized as the anti-patriots they were.

I think that the problem now is that people do not yet understand the threat involved with the Islamicists. There has been an attack on America. It was a terrible attack, but in terms of what could happen, not as bad as it could be. Most of this country has not yet truly realized that we are really in a war--not just rhetorically but in reality. The people that are our enemies have not yet convinced enough people in this country that this war is truly an imminent issue.

In World War II, people awakened to the danger when a large enough attack was launched. In terms of the modern world, that point has not yet been reached.

I think that the Jihadists will, in the long run find that they have awakened a sleeping giant. It will be a battle to the death and only one of the fighters will survive. If we lose this war, not just American civilization will end but Western Civilization as a whole will slowly but surely vanish.

And yet, how could it be otherwise? If the Islamicist win (and if Americans do not wake up they surly will), we will be thrown into an abyss of 12th century Islam that will destroy any of the vaunted freedoms of women and non believers in Islam. Islam does not allow competitors. I shudder to think of what this world would look like. No major obstacle to the advance of darkness will exist. I use the term darkness because I see the American civilization as a breath of fresh air and brightness shining on the world.

If you doubt the above, ask yourself if you have heard many if any of the practitioners of the "Religion of Peace" even criticizing the excessive violence shown by the Jihadists worldwide. Terror cannot and mustnot be met by silence.

I hope the price of the awakening of America is not too high. I know we can win this battle we did not start but we must, at somepoint, truly begin to fight. This includes any politically incorrect measures we need to take, such as profiling. It probably includes many steps we have not yet considered.

I will spend some time today watching the U.S. Navy Blue Angles performing. I will watch with pride and understanding that these pilots represent the best and the brightest of the best and brightest military in the world. I know we can win this war but I only question if we want to win this war. Yet.