This isn’t the sixtys. We can’t say: this isn’t our war. We can’t wonder what it is exactly that we are doing involved in the politics of a country thousands of miles away. Because this is our war, and we know why we are out there.So what do they say now? I hear two things. I hear fear, and I hear oil. They are afraid we will set off more anger towards the US and provoke the terrorist even more with a war in Iraq. They say this war isn’t about terrorism at all, that it’s about oil.I say, fear cannot force us to stand back and do nothing. These doves admit that they would like to remove Saddam from power if it could be done without military force. This is their fantasy, the fantasy that authority is not derived from violence. It is. I think all diplomatic solutions of meeting this end have been exhausted. The only way now is by force. Saddam has committed crimes against humanity, and is a terrorist sympathiser. If Americans are afraid to do the thing they must do, then why did we begin this war on terrorism in the first place?The protesters also say that this is just about oil. That if we would just quit buying oil from these middle eastern countries, all of these nasty terrorists will leave us alone. Why should we? Why should the terrorists make us quit buying oil? Just because they killed our citizens we are going to pack up and leave? Don’t get me wrong. I agree with lessening our dependence on oil, middle-eastern oil especially. I don’t like supporting these non-democratic, theocratic dark-age governments with oil money. Then again, we shouldn’t walk away from an economic resource which runs a lot of our country because a few well-funded angry men decided it was all America’s fault. I’d rather stand up and fight than let them force us to change our way of life. They’re the fanatics, why should I change? Speaking of terrorist demands that would supposedly make the world a safer place, our support of Israel is often criticised. Show me one country down there as democratic and squared-away as Israel and maybe the place wouldn’t be so bad. I grow weary of middle-easterner’s whining about illegal occupation. It’s so ridiculous and illogical. I find pride in the fact that we support the only real democracy in the middle-east. Maybe Israel’s example could spread and improve the quality of life throughout the region.Anyways, I got sidetracked. Back to the anti-war protests. I think General J. L. Jones the Commondant of the USMC said it best, quoted in this past Sunday’s Parade: “It’s what you do after an attack that really send the message. If they perceive you to be weak, they’ll be emboldened to do it again…As long as we’re relentless and committed, eventually I think we can win this.”
Jared JohnsonPre-Computer Science