America- One Man's View

" The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight... is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made so an kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill
Let us begin with that quote, because the efforts in the " War on Terror", as the administration terms it, have been packaged in such a way as to be digestable to the media-influenced people they say they are trying to reach. In the end, however, all they do when they attempt to package something in a shiny wrapper, is to make people somewhat cynical about the contents.
The unvarnished truth, sadly, is that they are right. There is a war, and it's one that will probably be played out for a longer time than necessary, due to the Western mentality of misplaced compassion, a quality that the enemy is counting on exploiting.
You see, the paradigm has changed regarding warfare today, and I use the term warfare advisedly, as it is terror with an objective. In the past, women and children died, but they were not intentionally targeted, they were incidental to the objective, which was to kill the enemy combatants. Now, that has fallen by the wayside, as the civilians have become the targets and objectives instead of the soldiers. It is almost too simplistic to say that those who would intentionally target civilians have no honor, but that is certainly true. Witness the difference between the Israelis and Hezbollah in the war in Lebanon recently. The Israelis dropped leaflets letting the Lebanese know that they would be shelled if they stayed in place while the Israelis targeted the enemy missile sites, while Hezbollah merely fired on purely civilian targets for terror's sake alone. There is a moral difference between the two sides.
Let us get something straight right now. I grew up in the shadow of the war in Viet Nam, and I went to college during that tumultous time, so I do not like the idea of war, and even less the idea of a war such as this one, but we didn't choose it. When the President asks if we are safer today than we were on Sept. 10, it is a rhetorical question, one that anyone with a lukewarm intellect could answer-- not really, but, and this is an important distinction-- whether or not we were in Iraq or not is really not the point, as the Dems would have us believe. No, for these terrorists would not stop trying, and as has been pointed out time and again, we have to be right 100 percent of the time, whereas they only need to get it right once.
Our biggest trouble comes on two fronts. First, in that we have not been able to read their mind, a process that has eluded us, possibly because of the cultural gulf that seems to separate us- but a part of THIS equation is the religious component, and here I have a great deal of trouble understanding just why the Islamic immigrants who have assimilated into our country don't both condemn the actions of these perverted terrorists in their loudest voices, and seek to actively help us win this war, bby offering us if nothing else, insight into the minds of these people.
I mean, let's face it-- America at its heart is the best country on earth, and that is why so many seek to come here. We do a lot for other people in other countries- some might say too much, but if we, as a people or country suffer from anything, it is that we do not understand truly those we try to assist. The Japanese have several ways to express gratitude, and all of them have some level of resentment at being put into the perceived "debt " of another.
I have come away from my pondering of this problem with several conclusions, all of which, at their core, are sad.
First, this war, or struggle, or whatever you wish to call it, will not be won until we become as ruthless as they are and,
Second, just as surely as the poor will be with us always, so will the willingly ignorant. They will value the twisted teachings of those "leaders" who are not afraid to fight with the blood of their followers more than they will value their children or their future.


Next Post---Part II