I strongly recommend this latest piece from Andrew McCarthy at NRO, as it carries a theme I have often voiced.
And that caging had better happen soon, because the word “war” in this context refers only to our nation’s forcible military response after the 9/11 attacks finally made the atrocities of radical Islam impossible to ignore any longer. Our response did not start the war. That war, radical Islam’s jihad against the United States and the West, continues — and ever more perilously. As we hollow ourselves out by the day, we become a much softer target.
Well put: War does not consist solely of combat, or the deployment of large forces. War is a concerted, conscious, national effort. There is no “Iraq war” or “Afghan war.” There is only The War, waged across the globe, with campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan (and other places), drawn together as a coordinated whole by political decisions, and endorsed by the electorate. Unfortunately, we have the previous administration to thank for failing to get the terms straight, at least to the public, and hammer the point home. The vulnerability lingers; indeed, possibly worsens.
Even more unfortunately, I think that the enemy understands The War quite well. I do hope we wise up, and soon.
LtCol P: Great article and link. It should scare the poop out of anyone who tries to take a long-term, strategic view of the so-called War on Terror, as termed by the previous administration and DoD (see Ralph Peters on this issue), rather than the War on Islamo-Fascism, so as not to offend anyone.
It also says volumes about why, if Judges want to be “super-legislators”, they should run for office like legislators. Once on the federal bench, they stop looking at cases in terms of what is in the best interests of America and the American people and become comsumed with “What will the ABA and Harvard Law Review think of this decision.” The worst part is that it doesn’t matter which party appoints a federal judge; once on the bench, the ABA/HLR fixation sets in.
America’s military has been at war, but much of America (to borrow another’s words) has been at the mall. Most of us on the right have supported Pres. Bush’s war efforts, and continue to support the fight since Pres. Bush left for the ranch the last time. I would offer the loyal criticism that, by telling American civilians to go about their everyday affairs as was normal prior to 9-11, he unintentionally signaled that the war was just a military thing, not a nationwide crusade against evil that required the support and efforts of every last freedom-loving soul across the 50 states. In doing so we, as a nation, never adopted a mindset of war. It was perhaps his greatest mistake of the conflict. Though no fan of FDR, I can still hear the radio broadcast of his Infamy speech in my mind’s ear: “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—[the] United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” THAT put a nation on war-time footing.
Col. P said, “War does not consist solely of combat, or the deployment of large forces. War is a concerted, conscious, national effort. There is no “Iraq war” or “Afghan war.” There is only The War, waged across the globe, with campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan (and other places), drawn together as a coordinated whole by political decisions, and endorsed by the electorate.”
I agree. America’s military has been at war, but much of America (to borrow another’s words) has been at the mall. Most of us on the right have supported Pres. Bush’s war efforts, and continue to support the fight since he rode into the sunset. I would offer the loyal criticism that, by telling American civilians to go about their everyday affairs as was normal prior to 9-11, he unintentionally signaled that the war was just a military thing, not a nationwide crusade against evil that required the support and efforts of every last freedom-loving soul across the 50 states. In doing so we, as a nation, never adopted a mindset of war. It was perhaps his greatest mistake of the conflict. Though no fan of FDR, I can still hear the radio broadcast of his Infamy speech in my mind’s ear: “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” THAT put a nation on war-time footing.
The Bush Derangement Syndrome leftloons took advantage of the situation to characterize the Long War as “Bush’s War”, further isolating the many Americans from mental engagement with the enemy. Bush’s failure to drive home the truth, that Islamofascism is, and has been for centuries, at war with the West, only promoted the delusion.
We are committing national suicide.