9/11: My thoughts on the big picture
Posted By RichC on September 12, 2006
I’ve been planning my comment regarding the 5 anniversary of 9/11 just like everyone else, but fear there is no way to do it properly. How does one respectfully acknowledge the murder of 3000 ordinary citizens without getting angry and showings one’s bias? Initially I was going to just do a somber reflection, but as the different newspapers, magazines and talking heads conversed on the subject, I realized how much I’ve lost focus on the “War on Terror.” It has only been these last couple of days that has made me remember ‘who our enemy is,’ and that their desire to kill those who do not conform to their ways.
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A Nation divided over War:
It’s difficult for me to recall the days of Vietnam, but I’ve noticed over the last several years that the homefront has taken a similar flavor. There are those connected and focused on hunting down terrorists and their cells, those protesting the ways in which we do this including governments flirting with our citizens’ liberties (or even those in Guantanamo), and then unfortunately the majority who complacently goes about life in America. Sadly, this group which I find myself slipping into, has forgotten the enemy is still out there waiting to strike again. This enemy is the same group of radical Islamists who struck us on 9/11 … and did it several times before. Wake up … they’re not stopping or going away.
Americans … where is your concern, your support of those being sent to fight an enemy somewhere outside of our borders? Where is that original outrage we all felt when those airliners were slammed into buildings? How often do we need to remember that the enemy is real, is killing every day and is actively plotting against those of us who appreciate freedom. I fear that most of us either don’t believe or have forgotten that there is an enemy plotting to strike the west again.
Tonight I also listened to President Bush. He stressed that our country really does face “a struggle for civilization” in fighting the war on terrorism. He commented that “the war against this enemy is more than a military conflict; [it] is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century and the calling of our generation.” The President compared this “calling” to that of our fathers and grandfathers in Europe and Asia. He commented that “if we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons,” and that “we are in a war that will set the course for this new century and determine the destiny of millions across the world.”
Even if one doesn’t believe that the threat from radical Islam will impact our country, one has to realize what will happen in the middle east without the moderate influences from democracies in the world. Regardless of what brought us to Iraq and Afghanistan, there will be little progress if the countries fall back in the hands of militant leaders, dictators and terrorists. We have far more to gain in seeing a democratic rule is in place before we leave, not only to prevent a terrorist breeding ground, but because a positive and productive relationship with the millions of peace-loving people is better for all.
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