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Taking Our Blessings for Granted
Guest Column | By Tim Wilson | July 17, 2008
America
is a great country and one of the few Western democracies where
patriotism is regarded as a good thing. The recent July 4th
celebrations were, as usual, joyous with impressive fireworks displays,
parades, community gatherings and neighborly barbeques throughout the
length and breadth of the land. This patriotic celebration is a
practical demonstration by the vast majority of the belief in the path
this country has taken over the last 232 years. Mostly thanks to the
wisdom of the Founding Fathers, these United States have arrived at a
point at which the country is the only world superpower in both
military and economic terms.
America is also
a caring country, putting a great deal of effort into helping others to
try and achieve the success with which it has been blessed. As one
result it is the number one destination for those seeking a better way
of life. This is one of the causes of many of the security problems we
face at the present time. It is also a cause of fear, envy and even
hatred from those who see the possibilities and resent their inability
to achieve the same levels of prosperity and freedom.
As
we near the 7th anniversary of the first ever major murderous attack on
the U.S. mainland, it is worth remembering just how we arrived at our
present situation. The 90s having seen the U.S. reach the position of
sole world superpower and the new millennium began with a booming
economy and the ability to influence events anywhere in the world (and
project overwhelming military strength to back up diplomatic clout),
the leaders of many countries were (and still are) envious and afraid
of America. Our influence was effective in many places and democracy
was spreading. Furthermore, the rapid spread of high speed
communication and news dissemination ensured that the peoples of the
world were seeing the American way of life in detail on a daily basis.
This fuelled the envy of many, large numbers of whom live impoverished,
closely regulated lives under dictatorial tyrannies or even in
democracies which have failed to find the same levels of success.
As
a result, America has been covertly and overtly attacked by many
nations and groups who wish us ill. Of these attacks the most
consequential to date has been by al Qaeda. One of the direct results
of 9/11 was the declaration by President Bush of the War on Terror
(during an address to a joint session of Congress on September 20th,
2001) in which he committed all the assets of the U.S. to win. In order
to take the offensive, the U.S. led coalitions to overthrow the
despotic regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. The warfighting phases of
these offensives were relatively easy for the full might of the U.S.
military (and our allies), but the subsequent peace enforcement and
democracy building phases have been less easy.
What
many people do not seem to realize, including the many members of
Congress who so ardently supported military action in the immediate
post-9/11 aftermath, is that war is a multi-faceted matter. The enemy
does not just sit back and wait to be defeated. As we would expect of
our own forces, they adapt, improvise and use every avenue they can
access to carry the war to us. As with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein,
they seek and create many allies, often from unexpected sources. As one
example, Saddam successfully split the United Nations (UN), most
notably in the Permanent Members of the Security Council, by awarding
billions of dollars in contracts and paying large bribes (and probably
also using blackmail) to influential people and parties in China,
France and Russia, amongst others. This resulted in the paralysis of
the UN, demonstrated by our inability to gain agreement for UN approval
of the invasion and a refusal by many powerful nations to join the
U.S.-led Coalition for the invasion. In fact this type of influence may
have led to the then Secretary General, Kofi Annan, declaring the war
illegal in September 2004.
Despite these
declarations against the American methods of waging the War on Terror,
the U.S. has had tremendous success in many aspects. Despite the
opinions of his many detractors, President Bush and his hard-working
teams deserve vast credit for keeping the homeland safe. They have
managed to prevent repeat attacks on the U.S. mainland, allowing the
enemy only small-scale successes in far-off lands. This often
unacknowledged success, a minor miracle in its way, comes at a price in
toil, treasure and luck which we pay without complaint. It is a success
we all must hope continues!
Similarly
unacknowledged, at least by the MSM who have disappointed time and
again in the informational war, are the stunning successes on the
ground in such places as Iraq. When casualties were high and attacks
were common, the press made much of the photo-opportunities and drama.
How often did we read or hear stories of the bold seekers of truth as
they drove at break-neck speed down the "most dangerous highway in the
world" from Baghdad Airport to the Green Zone? And how often were these
intrepid reporters putting their lives on the line in pursuit of
stories of atrocity and horror which they then found had been committed
by our own side? Where was the effort to highlight such matters as the
conditions in Abu Ghraib before we invaded to balance their easy
attacks on those who allowed them the access to such stories?
Yet
there has been a resounding MSM silence over the gains made this year
during which there has not been a single explosive event on that same
BIAP road, nor a casualty. Instead many stories have appeared
questioning the claims by our forces, led so successfully by Gen.
Petraeus, and our allies, that we are winning and that levels of
violence are down to historic lows. As with Sen. Clinton impugning his
testimony before Congress as "requiring the willing suspension of
disbelief" only to be proven wrong, so Gen. Petraeus' claims are
substantiated by fact and opinion on the ground in Iraq (both military
and civilian, Iraqi and American - I have checked with friends in both
spheres). Apparently good news is no news and attacking claims of
success is more newsworthy for the MSM, no matter how spurious those
attacks.
It should come as no surprise that
the enemy in the War on Terror, not just al Qaeda but all those who
oppose freedom, democracy and the power of the U.S., are using every
means to continue their struggles. They have had huge successes in
their information campaigns and are almost certainly trying to exploit
economic, political and religious as well as physical attacks. The
enemy has learned from the American experiences in Korea and Vietnam
that the U.S. homeland is the place to fight most of the battles, and
has done their utmost to promote discontent, strife and internal
dissent on the continuation of the war in Iraq.
The
U.S. public at large supports our troops in spirit and in many small
ways, but hates the loss of our best heroes in an ongoing struggle. It
seems that only a minority of our best youth understands the need for a
continued sacrifice in order to protect all that we hold dear. That is
why recruitment for the military remains strong, thank heavens, and
those brave souls who commit to demonstrate their patriotism in actions
rather than words. Now we need to understand that they deserve our
unstinting, complete support.
In order to
maintain the blessed American way of life, we at home need to make our
sacrifices too. If that means paying higher prices as part of an
economic battle, doing so while ensuring our soldiers, marines, sailors
and airmen have the best equipment and conditions is a worthy function.
U.S. citizens also need to remain actively engaged in the political and
religious arenas to ensure the freedoms we take for granted. We can and
must do our part to ensure the efforts of our troops are not wasted
through attrition of political will. They have the fighting spirit
which made America a great nation and, to win against terrorism, we at
home must also fight those battles which they cannot - the
informational, political, economic, and religious fights for freedom.
If we are not willing to do our bit in the War on Terror, we are losers
who do not deserve what we have. This is what Osama bin Laden claimed
when we withdrew from Somalia under President Clinton. We must prove
him wrong.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Tim Wilson is a retired British Army officer who served in a variety of command appointments on numerous operational tours during a 30 year military career. He now works as an independent consultant and over the last 2 years worked for USAID in Iraq.
Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.
1 Comment | Post a Comment
July 22 at 10:11 pm | #1 | Link
A What a Crock-O-Shiite. America IS a Republic.
If G.W. Bush had actually been in Vietnam and pulled his Shiite, he’d have been ‘Fragged’, simple statement of reality. Suggest You go back to many places where Your ‘God Save the Queen Shiite’ was played out for so many years. You’ll see twas your Limey Bushit that started so much of what is going on today. Take your Colonista Crap and Go Home to your Queen.