America's enemies want war with the U.S.--and they will get it (column)

WEDNESDAY'S MEMORIALS of Sept. 11 will be steeped in a level of sorrow and solemnity befitting the tragedy of 3,000 lives lost. Surely missing, however, will be the emotion many Americans were feeling on that fateful day--righteous anger.

Americans justifiably burned with rage. What happened on Sept. 11 was no "tragedy" or "disaster," but a surprise attack--the murder of innocent civilians by self-declared (but ignored) enemies of the United States.

It was an act of war--executed with astonishing brilliance by agents of al-Qaida, unlike the first attack on American soil. In 1993, a bomb blew a six-story hole in one tower of the World Trade Center, killing six people, and injuring scores more. But it was a tactical failure. The intent was to topple one building into another--burying tens of thousands of office workers in rubble.

So terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden must have been at least a little surprised that his henchmen were so spectacularly successful on Sept. 11. Four planes hijacked, three buildings hit, thousands dead--though he wasn't counting on the bravery of New York City firefighters and Northern Virginia rescue crews to greatly reduce his desired take of "infidels."

Through the tears and memorials, we must remember that America is now a nation at war, and we must remain so until the fanatical, murderous strain of Islam is driven from the Earth. As President Bush laid out in his remarkable Sept. 20 speech before Congress and the nation, appeasement, negotiations, or surrender to our enemies is not an option, for they are interested only in our destruction. But they will fail.

"We have seen their kind before," said the president. "They're the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends--in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies."

At least that's the hope. Just a few days before that speech, Congress gave Bush authority "to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines" planned, aided, or harbored those who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. This was necessary, said Congress in a near-unanimous vote, "to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations, or persons."

At the time it was passed, all of America, especially its political leaders, seemed to understand what was at stake--our freedom, security, and way of life--and what was necessary to preserve it. In the ensuing 11 months, however, that resolution seems to have weakened among almost everyone but President Bush.

NBC News reported last week that "if a vote were held today the president probably would not win a majority of support in either party" to expand the war on terrorism to the lengths Congress once authorized--that is, to places "he determines" aided the Sept. 11 attack (in this case, Iraq), and would "prevent any future acts" of terrorism.

So it's back to the bully pulpit for Bush. He must once again remind America--and especially, it seems, once-panicked but now-complacent Congress members--what is at stake here.

Bush must dispel the growing sentiment that taking pre-emptive defensive action against known terrorist collaborators is not necessary--whether such thoughts are born out of a false sense of security, or a reflexive and misplaced suspicion of America's war aims.

To anyone who reads newspapers, it is not a startling revelation that Iraq traffics in weapons with terrorists, harbors them within its borders, and finances their villainy.

The International Herald Tribune reported last month that Kurdish attempts to drive members of the al-Qaida army out of northern Iraq have failed. A piece in The New Yorker last winter stated that bin Laden-led terrorists were holed up in northern Iraq, and given cover and financial support by Saddam Hussein's secret police.

And Fox News reported Thursday that American intelligence has told the president that Saddam is "dangerously close" to developing nuclear weapons and that "Saddam's regime has been in contact with al-Qaida before and after the 9/11 terror attacks."

In a speech on Sept. 12, Bush is expected to present this evidence--and more--for the benefit of those who have not been paying attention, or have been willfully shielding their eyes from reality.

Historians tell us that the Roman Empire justified remaining in a near constant state of war on grounds that it had to defeat its neighbors to protect itself from future attack. America, in a sense, is making the same case with one significant difference--we are not an empire looking for conquest and glory.

The United States would like nothing better than to live in peace with the likes of insane tyrants and murderers like bin Laden and Saddam without firing a shot. Indeed, we've tried to for more than 10 years. But when the fight is taken to our soil--and our people are under the very real threat of slaughter on a massive scale--war is our only choice.

And Bush has dedicated himself and his presidency to carrying out what he calls "the calling of our time." The first step was Afghanistan, where the immediate perpetrators and supporters of the Sept. 11 attack were hiding. Our efforts were overwhelmingly successful.

The rest of this war won't be so easy. Saddam might expose our troops to chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons when he sees all hope is lost. Rooting out slippery terrorist cells in countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and even within our own borders will take an unmatched combination of military might, intelligence, and diplomacy.

And the ultimate avenue to national security--replacing regimes with an 8th-century philosophy and 21st-century weapons with stable, tolerant, and peaceful governments--is the greatest challenge of all.

Every Sept. 11 should serve as a reminder that failure in that quest is not an option.

Please give a fellow Freeper's column a click .

A small antidote to the flood of unfocused grief coverage we are going to recieve on Sept. 11

Thanks for posting. Very well-written article! I was hoping to read something like this one this week! I don't know what I will be thinking or feeling on Wed., I lost two friends in the 9-11 attacks. But I will read this article again on Wed. instead of watching the coverage on TV. I don't think I can watch it. Makes my BP go way up. But I am behind "W" all the way!!!!

Thanks so much, and I'm honored that you think it worthy of reading on Sept. 11

By the way, you wouldn't be a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, would you?

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