Always Remember

I sat in a movie theater watching "Shindler's list,"and asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?" Now I know.

I sat in a movie theater watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why weren't we prepared?" Now I know.

On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves to be overpowered by a handful of poorly-armed terrorists because they did not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors.

On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others.

Many political pundits, pacifists, and media personnel want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. The major television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by not re-playing devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Towers. I will not be manipulated. I will not pretend to understand. I will not forget.

I will not under estimate the intelligence of our adversary who patiently planned and meticulously orchestrated a devastating act of war.

I will not forget that the terrorists desire a world society where women are chattel and freedom is forbidden.

I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on me.

I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes, and modem communications.

I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the previous administration. I will not be comforted by "feel good do nothing" regulations like the silly, "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.

I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.

I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington DC and commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington."

I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about him, he is still our president."

And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely - nor should they be expected - to show deference.."

I will not be influenced by so-called, "anti-war demonstrators" who exploit the right of expression to chant anti-American obscenities. I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by American war protestors who reviled and spat upon the returning soldiers. I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality.

I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000, but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?

There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must."

I sat in a movie theater, watching in quiet reverence as the blood of young soldiers turned the sands of Normandy beach red in "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where did they find the courage?"

Almost two centuries ago a group of disturbed men met in the small Pennsylvania State House. They gathered to decide on a course of action. Behind the locked and guarded doors they debated for hours whether or not to sign the Declaration which had been presented for their consideration. For hours the talk was treason and its price the headsman's axe, the gallows and noose. The talk went on and decision was not forthcoming.
Then, Jefferson writes, a voice was heard coming from the balcony:

They may stretch our necks on all the gibbets in the land. They may turn every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. They may pour our blood on a thousand scaffolds and yet from every drop that dyes the axe a new champion of freedom will spring into birth. The words of this declaration will live long after our bones are dust.

To the mechanic in his workshop they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom; but to the coward rulers, these words will speak in tones of warning they cannot help but hear. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck. Sign if the next minute this hall rings with the clash of falling axes! Sign by all your hopes in life or death, not only for yourselves but for all ages, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom the bible of the rights of man forever.

Were my soul trembling on the verge of eternity, my hand freezing in death, I would still implore you to remember this truth: God has given America to be free.

As he finished, the speaker sank back in his seat exhausted. Inspired by his eloquence the delegates rushed forward to sign the Declaration of Independence. When they turned to thank the speaker for his timely words he couldn't be found and to this day no one knows who he was or how he entered or left the guarded room.

(from a Ronald Reagan speech)

Thanks for sharing that e-mail, friend!
Excerpt of President Bush's radio address to the nation September 15, 2001 after the WTC/Pentagon Terrorists Attacks of September 11, 2001:
This is a conflict without battlefields or beachheads, a conflict with opponents who believe they are invisible. Yet, they are mistaken. They will be exposed, and they will discover what others in the past have learned: Those who make war against the United States have chosen their own destruction.
Taliban in Afghanistan are history already. We did in 2 months what the Soviets failed to do in 10 years.

Next stop: Iraq? Philippines?. . .

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