As I was typing that last statement I started thinking about if my thoughts and prayers really are with the family. It's easy to type it and to give lip service to those ideas as an expression of sympathy. But are we sincere when we say something like that? Do we really comprehend the battle we are in? Is that even possible? These two brave Americans, were not soldiers, they were helping to rebuild the country of Iraq, they were helping spread freedom. And in doing so they were helping to make our great Country safer. That last statement would be debated by some. But anyone who doesn't believe that a free and democratic Iraq is better for our national security than a brutal dictatorship that hated our way of life should have their head checked. Jack and Eugene knew that. They were willing to brave the danger presented by working in that country. Would you be willing to do that? Would I? These two men came face to face with our enemy. An enemy who is unmistakably ruthless and evil. Regardless of what the AP reports, these men were terrorists, not freedom fighters or militants. They weren't interested in the release of prisoners or diplomacy, or treaties. They are only interested in the destruction of freedom and our way of life.
This is why we must win, we must conquer these terrorists, the sacrifice and patriotism of Jack and Eugene must not be in vain. When I think about it like that, when I realize that the terrorists who killed them would kill me just because of the way I live and the freedom I enjoy - it becomes easy and necessary to pray for their families and mourn their loss. So yes, any terrorists out there listening, I am calling you evil, I am calling you cowards, we will prevail, we will conquer you, we will hunt you down and kill you wherever you try to hide!
Bush at the UN
On a related note George W.Bush spoke to the UN general assembly today. It was a wonderful, inspiring speech. Please read the whole thing if you can spare the time. It is quite possibly one of the best speeches he has ever made. Here is my favorite example:
"In the last year alone, terrorists have attacked police stations, and banks, and commuter trains, and synagogues -- and a school filled with children. This month in Beslan we saw, once again, how the terrorists measure their success -- in the death of the innocent, and in the pain of grieving families. Svetlana Dzebisov was held hostage, along with her son and her nephew -- her nephew did not survive. She recently visited the cemetery, and saw what she called the "little graves." She said, "I understand that there is evil in the world. But what have these little creatures done?"I love that part, I really do. He invokes the 'E' word. This is why I love this man. He is not afraid to go out on an international stage with the moral clarity and absolutism that these people hate.
Members of the United Nations, the Russian children did nothing to deserve such awful suffering, and fright, and death. The people of Madrid and Jerusalem and Istanbul and Baghdad have done nothing to deserve sudden and random murder. These acts violate the standards of justice in all cultures, and the principles of all religions. All civilized nations are in this struggle together, and all must fight the murderers."
And this is who he is. This is not rhetoric. He believes that these people are evil and cannot be appeased, only conquered. And most of the people in that room can't stand that idea. In their world there aren't evil people, only people who are misguided and do bad things. They think we need to find out what caused them to turn to killing and violence. And more often than not they tend to think its us. The people and government of this Country. How else do you account for their lack of outrage at atrocities being committed around the world? This body is supposed to safe-guard human rights across the globe, so you'd think that they would be committed to presenting a unified front to root out terrorism. You'd think that there would be worldwide condemnation of the acts of terrorism in New York, Beslan, Madrid, or the suicide bombings in the Middle East. Nope. They are too busy demonizing us for taking a stand and protecting ourselves. The truth is that this bureaucratic body has been impotent for a long time. Do I even need to mention Rwanda, Haiti, Bosnia, Mozambique or the Sudan?
This is one of the main reasons that we had to go to war in Iraq. The sanctions of this corrupt organization were demonstrably ineffective. And, as we have recently learned, even though Saddam did not have or has exported stockpiles of WMD's, he retained the capability to quickly reopen labs to produce them. It's obvious that he was waiting for the UN to completely drop sanctions or inspections, something Germany and France had advocated. It all goes back to a fundamental difference of ideology. President Bush believes that terrorists do bad things because they are evil, while more liberal nations call terrorists evil because they do bad things. The sad thing is that some people in this country agree with them. They believe their own nation to be in the wrong and is even the cause of large amounts of evil in the world.
Case in point, the speech that John Kerry gave yesterday there was no sign of optimism whatsoever. There was no hope demonstrated, he gave no plan for winning the war, it was only doom and gloom. He talks a lot about what went wrong, troubles that have risen. But no plan or idea to win. He honestly doesn't see the spreading of democracy and freedom as beneficial to our security. He calls the war effort in Iraq "a chaos that has left America less secure". He has put himself in a political position where anything bad for this Country is good for his campaign. Regardless of how many flip-flops Kerry makes, or setbacks we have in the war on terror, I think we face a clear decision this November.
