Should We Fight or Should We Fold?

Action, not talk, not ‘what ifs?’ with regard to how other countries might perceive us, but knowing that if we don’t act, the enemy will…sooner or later. If not us, in some horrid act that will shake us to the core such as it did on 9/11, then, later, on our children. Shoving our heads in the proverbial sand of isolationism won’t solve the problem or make it go away. Neither will any attempt at befriending the enemy. They don’t want to be our friends; they want us dead…period.

Back during the cold war, we suspected everyone of being a spy for the enemy. Our lives were influenced by books, newspaper accounts, news flashes and McCarthyism in which anyone who did just about anything out of the ordinary was targeted and accused of being the enemy. If you were in the limelight, you were fair game. Back then, the ‘enemy’ was often thought to be your neighbor, or the grocer, or the librarian, or your favorite actor, or newscaster. Fear of nuclear war saw bomb shelters go up in people’s yards, saw movies produced stimulating the fear, and had children practicing drills in which they scrambled under their desks.

Right now, there is a strong contrast to that era, but in another way, there is a strong similarity. The contrast is that our country experienced first hand what this enemy will do. There is no guesswork here. While the cold war era painted horrible pictures and cast suspicion, it rarely produced anything more than paranoia, practically no action against the ‘real’ enemy, and more action against its own citizens.

Now, the enemy truly walks among us. He plots to harm our citizens and destroy our country. Now, our government focuses on that enemy, where he stems from, what he’s doing, and most importantly what can be done to stop him.

We cannot ignore or deny that this enemy exists, that his purpose is clearly demonstrated, that he is well-organized, well-financed, and harbored by countries who pretend sympathy to us. This isn’t the time for political bias, rhetoric, smokescreens, liberal media slant, or right-wing speeches. It truly is a time for unity, for patriotism, for country, for protecting our children, for weeding out the enemy, and for confronting him. This isn’t the cold war. This is war! Reality.

Do we fight or do we fold? If we fold, as some would have us believe is the ‘right’ thing to do, we may as well begin acclimating our children now so the culture shock won’t be too much to bear when they have to give up their American way of life.

The old adage: Ignorance is bliss is dead wrong. In this day and age ignorance is no excuse, and bliss could be destroyed in the flash of jet engine fuel.