OUR NATIONAL SECURITY MUST FOCUS ON A WILL TO WIN

February 4, 2007

(Your columnists* have spoken to any number of individuals... young and old, men and women, blue and white collar workers, retired and non-retirees, students, senior citizens and others ... and overwhelmingly, they agree with the position taken in this column)

There are those politicians in Washington who have been saying publicly and as often as they can in front of the camera "We support the troops." And then, their action says, " But, we will do whatever we can to prevent the "cavalry" from going over there to help them out." Surely, if anything, that will embolden the enemy and send a shock wave of discouragement to the troops. And our national security is in the balance.

There is a major fundamental difference between President Bush and his critics. That difference is that the President has taken a long-run view of the worldwide war on terror, for national security reasons, while his critics are seeking a quick-fix, get-out quick resolution of defeat, for there are those who are invested in defeat. There are those who claim that there is no connection between the war on terror and the war in Iraq. But take note, they don't seem to notice that the terrorists themselves obviously see a clear connection, and they express this in both words and deeds. Terrorists are pouring into Iraq, even at the cost of their lives, in order to prevent a free, democratic government from being established in the Middle East. For the diabolical terrorists see THEIR victory and OUR defeat in Iraq as having major and long-lasting repercussions throughout the region and even throughout the world.

The stakes are monumental if there is defeat on our part. Clearly, it is in our national interest that the terrorists not succeed. Think of it, if the Allied nations in World War II had not won, Hitler's Germany and Hirohito's Imperial Japan would have been victorious and the hegemony of diabolical totalitarianism and Nazi fascism would have prevailed. Winston Churchill said it well during those dark days, when he said "Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival." And today, in 2007, the consequence of failure in the war against diabolical terrorism is enormous. It is frightening to think that if we loose over there, the insurgent terrorists could well follow us home.

In a time when rouge nations collaborate with terrorist groups and with their fundamentalist supporters, we must remain vigilant and dogged. This is a war against Muslim fanaticism and they have publicly stated that it is their goal to destroy anyone who stands in their way. The United States has historically been a force for good when it lives up to its principles and ignores the whims of those who dispute American exceptionalism.

There is no doubt, the current war in Iraq and the haven of terrorists in Afghanistan is a quagmire created by numerous systemic errors and mistakes. The burden of these mistakes is borne by the entire political class: the Administration, the Congress, and our Intelligence and Military Institutions. The past is finished, and the future is what must drive our efforts. The consequences of failure are dangerous and even more ominous than the tragedies that have already occurred. Clearly, we support a surge of troops only if we are in it to win. These are perilous times. Take note, the Sunni and Shiite Militias are summarily undercutting Allied strength and severely compromising the future of Iraq and the entire Middle East. And this opens the possibility of world wide catastrophic terrorism.

For a truly successful "Mission Accomplished" the United States must take the gloves off. For too long we've worried and fretted about our so called national image. For far too long we've held fire waiting for Iraqis to be trained. For far too long we've tolerated secularism which continues to divide the nation and ravage it into sectarian battle. For too long American GI's have been shot at by both sides. We need to take the initiative and thwart any group or militia or citizens who seek to overturn the duly elected government and stymie the progress of stability and freedom. And we must hold Iraqi political leader Nouri al-Maliki and his Shite coalition true to their word.

There is no doubt, if we are in this to win and not to lose to diabolical terrorists, we must act directly and systematically. There must be an end to the so called "drive by media" which openly reports Pentagon military high-level secrets and thus put our military personnel in heightened danger. We cannot win a war when we constantly tip our hand. For an educated nation and informed people to have allowed these deadly oversights to happen is startling and confounding. A war which is fought in public is a recipe for disaster. Informing the public is essential for progress, but reporting exactly where our service personnel are and their immediate military intentions is sewing the seeds for disaster. Imagine what might have happened if it would have leaked out that General Patton was only a front man to divert Nazi troops from Germany... that would have sowed the seeds for certain defeat.

And furthermore, there are unscrupulous militias and scurrilous terrorists out to destroy any hope of freedom in Iraq. If we truly seek remediation in Iraq, we cannot have our troops forced to follow political conventions of politicians in Washington. We should be commencing action on these militias, not requesting permission from politicians to act. The allied influence should seek to completely render powerless the radical militant leaders and the sectarian militias which are out to destroy any hope of freedom for the Iraqi people. If we really think the Iraqi's want a stable government, we must help them to militarily achieve that mission by defusing the elements which are a threat to that goal. Clearly, if the much talked about so-called "surge" is used to achieve these ends, then that is the best policy proposed to date.

When the English lost the revolutionary war they learned that even great expansive powers with vast wealth and influence could lose to a much smaller group of guerilla's fighting on their own turf. We need to act now upon that fundamental historic conclusion. We cannot win by marching with convention and running a political war. If there is to be victory, we need to identify those sinister forces of the insurgency ...and this includes Sadr and the regional murdering tribes which are a threat to security...and eliminate their terror on innocent Iraqi civilians and our own military personnel.

We believe that a majority of Iraqi people are hungering for a government which will uphold human rights and political tolerance. Indeed, if this is the case, the allied forces must be vigilant in using their last best chance to create a breeding ground of moderation and tolerance. If we lose, the forces of moderation and tolerance might well be erased from the region and radicalism will prevail in the entire Arabian Peninsula and former Persian Empire in their radical drive for regional and world wide superiority. If we lose, the results will make the last four years of blood shed and terror pale in comparison of what is to come. Clearly, in the interests of this generation and future generations, our national interests and national security are at stake. As Winston Churchill said, "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour' " . Let us with equal determination finish the job. And that is how we see it FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE.