Car bombs found in London...... This the world we live in and I fear the darkest days may yet to come. The simple fact is the freedom we enjoy living in a democracy is also our greatest weakness when we face an unconventional, cowardly, and dedicated foe like the enemy we face.
The fact is that unless democracies can find a way to combat these threats without handing over our freedoms these evil individuals have already won. They know the weakness of our society... our love of freedom.
Unlike Washington politicians, these radicals do what they say they are going to do. When they declare war they mean war and they have no intention of stopping until our way of life, our freedoms are destroyed. There are a committed enemy and will use every cowardly tactic at their disposal. Because in their view none of us are innocent..... we are infidels.
People in Democratic societies have no inkling of the extent these individuals will go. And the failing of Americans in particular to see this plays into the tactics that Al Qaeda and other employ. They know that they don't have to defeat us with with might on the battlefield when they can cause us to defeat ourselves.
I remember clearly President Bush speaking in October 2001. I also remember thinking would America's commitment to the cause would last. As I feared it seemingly has not.
This is exactly what those men that brought down the World Trade Center were counting on. That if they could make it bloody enough, hard enough and last long enough, Americans would begin grow tired. To look to other options that have proven historical ineffective when dealing with these people. And worse give them yet another victory to parade among their comrades.
As I see it that is where we are. Exactly where Bin Laden wants us. He wants us tired. He and his ilk are relentless in pursuing that end. We need not forget that this band of radicals are from the same group that ran the great Soviet war machine from Afghanistan. An accomplishment they view with great pride. And an ominous portent when you consider that even the draconian tactics that the Soviets used failed to work against them.
Bin Laden even said when the USSR withdrew that they had defeated the "greatest" of the two superpowers. Eluding to the fact that America would be easy to destroy...... And there in lies their greatest mistake. These terror brokers might believe they know how destroy us, but do they? I suppose that if you base your opinion upon what you see coming out of this country through the media you could. But I see it different.
To the world we look like an arrogant, narcissistic nation. The media and entertainment industry sees to it daily that this message is conveyed, with stories about the Paris Hilton types, and the greed of America, the corruption in our government, and the general decline of morality present here. All the things that radical Islamic people love to hear, and use to fuel their cause.
But Bin Laden and crew have never been to places in America like Enigma, Georgia or Conetop, North Carolina. Khalid Sheik Muhammad never visited Miller City, Ohio or Petroleum, Indiana. If they did they would see something that would strike fear in their collective hearts..... Americans.
Men and women who aren't afraid to do what is right, no matter the cost. The silent backbone of this country. Folks that are as likely to open their door to a stranger as they are friends. The quiet majority that is happy with silence until you cross them, Then you hear the deafening roar of the immutable strength of this nation.... her common folks. The same folks that fought in every conflict since this nation was conceived and who's sons and daughters fight them today.
SO let Bin Laden and his apologists here and abroad believe they can defeat the United States. Let them think that we are weak and wrong. And they will find as others have found, it is no accident we are known as the "United" States of America.
