"Freedom still is not free..."
This past week, we were informed by our President that the War on Terror should be about over. In fact, President Obama called for an end to a "boundless global war on terror". He wants to (again) close Gitmo, cut back on drone strikes, and basically take the whole terror thing off the nation's radar. I guess it was fine he told the American people this - my only question is this - did he also tell the bad guys?
We have heard many times in the past decade from terrorists the main reason they will win is time. Where we are in the "Instamatic" society of impatience and quick results, the terrorists measure time in centuries. Once we leave Afghanistan, the Taliban will be back, along with Al Qaeda. Now that we have left Iraq, the bad guys who "stir the pot" are back in business causing sectarian unrest and bloodshed. Once we let our guard down domestically, we will be in line for more bloodshed to both soft and hard targets.
In the 90's when President Clinton was in charge, we also tried to ignore the gathering storm. When the WTC was bombed in 1993, we caught the blind sheik almost immediately. We threw him in jail instead of questioning him. He was part of the much larger plot and we did not know it. When the USS Cole was bombed, we knew it was Al Qaeda. They were becoming more emboldened. Still, we did not see the storm clouds on the horizon getting darker. It took a beautiful late summer day in September of 2001 to wake us up. By that time it was too late - almost 3,000 of our citizens paid the ultimate price because the people we put in charge could not read the tea leaves.
Now that 9/11 has faded into distant memories of some, it is just like yesterday to the bad guys. They are probably counting on us becoming bored with the War on Terror. In fact, they are delighted our current leadership hates the term. We would like to rename it a softer, gentler something or other, as not to offend. We don't want to be hated anymore. Well, guess what - we are.
What we have seen in Ft. Hood, Boston, London and yesterday in Paris, "soft targets" are on the terror menu. However easy soft targets are for terrorists, they are still looking for the big, splashy hit - maybe even bigger than 9/11. The best thing we can do to help them out is pretend they are not here, or no longer want to hurt us.
It is not just here where our guard is being let down. The savage attack in London last week was done by people who had been identified on the British terror list. All lot of good that did to the unfortunate off duty soldier who had his head hacked off in broad daylight. The people who have been arrested for that attack should be sent to Gitmo and water boarded. We need to find out if more of these type attacks are coming.
No, the War on Terror is not over. It continues today and will be here tomorrow. To unilaterally surrender will be suicide. Our freedom never has been, or never will be, free.
We have heard many times in the past decade from terrorists the main reason they will win is time. Where we are in the "Instamatic" society of impatience and quick results, the terrorists measure time in centuries. Once we leave Afghanistan, the Taliban will be back, along with Al Qaeda. Now that we have left Iraq, the bad guys who "stir the pot" are back in business causing sectarian unrest and bloodshed. Once we let our guard down domestically, we will be in line for more bloodshed to both soft and hard targets.
In the 90's when President Clinton was in charge, we also tried to ignore the gathering storm. When the WTC was bombed in 1993, we caught the blind sheik almost immediately. We threw him in jail instead of questioning him. He was part of the much larger plot and we did not know it. When the USS Cole was bombed, we knew it was Al Qaeda. They were becoming more emboldened. Still, we did not see the storm clouds on the horizon getting darker. It took a beautiful late summer day in September of 2001 to wake us up. By that time it was too late - almost 3,000 of our citizens paid the ultimate price because the people we put in charge could not read the tea leaves.
Now that 9/11 has faded into distant memories of some, it is just like yesterday to the bad guys. They are probably counting on us becoming bored with the War on Terror. In fact, they are delighted our current leadership hates the term. We would like to rename it a softer, gentler something or other, as not to offend. We don't want to be hated anymore. Well, guess what - we are.
What we have seen in Ft. Hood, Boston, London and yesterday in Paris, "soft targets" are on the terror menu. However easy soft targets are for terrorists, they are still looking for the big, splashy hit - maybe even bigger than 9/11. The best thing we can do to help them out is pretend they are not here, or no longer want to hurt us.
It is not just here where our guard is being let down. The savage attack in London last week was done by people who had been identified on the British terror list. All lot of good that did to the unfortunate off duty soldier who had his head hacked off in broad daylight. The people who have been arrested for that attack should be sent to Gitmo and water boarded. We need to find out if more of these type attacks are coming.
No, the War on Terror is not over. It continues today and will be here tomorrow. To unilaterally surrender will be suicide. Our freedom never has been, or never will be, free.
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