Friday, September 11, 2009
Eight Years Later, The War Continues
The war against Islamo-fascist terrorism that began on September 11, 2001 continues on battlefields around the world.
We fight still in Afghanistan and Iraq openly with our armed forces. We fight everywhere else a clandestine war against those who have supported or do support our enemies in any way. We fight in every nation, including, especially, our own. We fight with bombs and missiles, infantry and tanks. We fight with reconnaissance drones and satellites. We fight with surveillance and wiretapping. We fight with infiltration and disinformation. We fight by aiding political forces favorable to us, and trying to nobble those against us. We fight with radio broadcasts, book publishing, and on the internet. We fight with money to good causes. We fight with cutting off funding to the enemy from the malinformed or ill-meaning.
We fight with persuasion. And where that doesn't work, we fight with a knife across the throat in a dark alley or with the cars of those who aid our enemy suddenly exploding. We fight everywhere and at all times. We fight in defense of the West, of Christendom, of the US, of capitalism, and of political liberality.
We do not weaken. We do not cut and run. We do not back down. We stay, and we fight. We have no other choice.
The war is not separable into distinct "wars" each requiring their own justification. It is all of a piece. The "war" in Iraq is as much a campaign in this larger war as the Campaign in Italy was part of World War II. Afghanistan is as much a campaign in this larger war as the Pacific Islands were a campaign of World War II.
There is much still to do. While Islamo-fascist violence in Iraq has diminished, it is not yet quelled. Afghanistan remains a problem. So too, does Iran, and Syria, and Libya. And then there are the power vacuums in Yemen and Pakistan, where government has with one hand helped the cause of order, and with the other aided the enemy quietly. The war won't be over until there are no wealthy benefactors ready to give to the enemy, until there is no government on earth supporting it in any way, until no one dares to bear arms in the Islamo-fascist cause.
Fortunately, we are not on entirely new ground here. Wars like this one have been fought and won before. Britain against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. The US and the West against Soviet Communism. We have the examples before us, and only need to apply their lessons correctly.
It is not a glamorous war. There is little glory to be gained. But if we do not hang on and see the war through to its conclusion, no matter how many decades away that might be, we would not want to bequeath the world that would result to posterity. We are not the world's policeman. Instead, we are the world's garbage collectors. It is an appalling job. But if it isn't done (and no one else will do it) the filth will simply overwhelm us.
This is what happens when no one has taken out the trash for a long time:
We pray for the poor souls murdered by the Islamo-fascist terrorists on September 11, 2001. We pause a moment and weep for those taken from their ordinary lives by air pirates and their supporters. We remember what the murderous bastards did to us on that day. We harden our hearts and gird our loins for the fight that remains.
And we do not fool ourselves into thinking the war is won, and that it is time to withdraw and tend to our domestic problems. We do not blow the trumpet that signals retreat. We may have elected particularly obtuse leaders last November, people who view national security policy the way fish view bicycles. But the American people know that is a war still to be waged and battles to be fought.
God bless our armed forces and God bless the USA!!!
We fight still in Afghanistan and Iraq openly with our armed forces. We fight everywhere else a clandestine war against those who have supported or do support our enemies in any way. We fight in every nation, including, especially, our own. We fight with bombs and missiles, infantry and tanks. We fight with reconnaissance drones and satellites. We fight with surveillance and wiretapping. We fight with infiltration and disinformation. We fight by aiding political forces favorable to us, and trying to nobble those against us. We fight with radio broadcasts, book publishing, and on the internet. We fight with money to good causes. We fight with cutting off funding to the enemy from the malinformed or ill-meaning.
We fight with persuasion. And where that doesn't work, we fight with a knife across the throat in a dark alley or with the cars of those who aid our enemy suddenly exploding. We fight everywhere and at all times. We fight in defense of the West, of Christendom, of the US, of capitalism, and of political liberality.
We do not weaken. We do not cut and run. We do not back down. We stay, and we fight. We have no other choice.
The war is not separable into distinct "wars" each requiring their own justification. It is all of a piece. The "war" in Iraq is as much a campaign in this larger war as the Campaign in Italy was part of World War II. Afghanistan is as much a campaign in this larger war as the Pacific Islands were a campaign of World War II.
There is much still to do. While Islamo-fascist violence in Iraq has diminished, it is not yet quelled. Afghanistan remains a problem. So too, does Iran, and Syria, and Libya. And then there are the power vacuums in Yemen and Pakistan, where government has with one hand helped the cause of order, and with the other aided the enemy quietly. The war won't be over until there are no wealthy benefactors ready to give to the enemy, until there is no government on earth supporting it in any way, until no one dares to bear arms in the Islamo-fascist cause.
Fortunately, we are not on entirely new ground here. Wars like this one have been fought and won before. Britain against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. The US and the West against Soviet Communism. We have the examples before us, and only need to apply their lessons correctly.
It is not a glamorous war. There is little glory to be gained. But if we do not hang on and see the war through to its conclusion, no matter how many decades away that might be, we would not want to bequeath the world that would result to posterity. We are not the world's policeman. Instead, we are the world's garbage collectors. It is an appalling job. But if it isn't done (and no one else will do it) the filth will simply overwhelm us.
This is what happens when no one has taken out the trash for a long time:
We pray for the poor souls murdered by the Islamo-fascist terrorists on September 11, 2001. We pause a moment and weep for those taken from their ordinary lives by air pirates and their supporters. We remember what the murderous bastards did to us on that day. We harden our hearts and gird our loins for the fight that remains.
And we do not fool ourselves into thinking the war is won, and that it is time to withdraw and tend to our domestic problems. We do not blow the trumpet that signals retreat. We may have elected particularly obtuse leaders last November, people who view national security policy the way fish view bicycles. But the American people know that is a war still to be waged and battles to be fought.
God bless our armed forces and God bless the USA!!!
Labels: American Patriotism Is Not A Sin, er
