Surrender isn't an option

It may be the information overload of the 24-hour news cycle, but I'm falling behind. It has been a little more than a week since the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and already America's emotions have run the gamut. First came shock, then sorrow, then fury, then pride in our country and heroes, then more fury. And now, unfortunately, there is the inevitable – and inexcusable – self-doubt.

Wait. I'm still stuck on fury. And I probably will be until those who train, incite and nurse these barbarians – as President Bush has aptly called the terrorists – are reduced to rubble. As for Osama bin Laden, "dead or alive" works for me.

Maybe it's the Mexican American in me, the blood of an enormously patriotic people who have always shown up at America's side without having to be called. These sons and daughters of Mexican immigrants were raised by parents who instilled a patriotism that comes from knowing they chose this country over all others.

Or maybe it's that I'm part of a no-nonsense generation that grew up blessedly free of the baggage of the Vietnam War. It is the lingering effects – which resurface in times of crisis – that paralyze baby boomers with a reluctance to suffer casualties in war, or trust anything the government tells them in matters of life and death.

Most Generation Xers – whose oldest members will have to join the boomers in bankrolling this "new war" on terrorism and whose youngest members will have to fight it – have felt more of a kinship with our grandparents from the so-called Greatest Generation. That bunch stared evil in the face and defeated it. It is no wonder so many young voters connected with Sen. John McCain, who during the 2000 presidential primary campaign implored them to conceive of causes larger than their own self-interest.

This is such a cause. We Xers have always believed we were the country's clean-up crew. Now we see the mess.

And we also see that our nation is in the midst of its finest hour. Americans have performed like troopers by giving blood, waving flags and donating more than $106 million to the American Red Cross. Nevertheless, some highbrow types with a low opinion of what America can stomach still insist that when the going gets tough, we'll throw in the towel.

Bush administration officials, fearing that possibility, hit the airwaves to drive home the message that Americans have to accept that they are in this for the long haul. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld insisted that the era of the "sanitized" war is over and that, this time, unlike the bombing in Kosovo, Americans wouldn't be able to safely engage the enemy from the clouds.

Rumsfeld is right. The new war will require stamina and a sustained – presumably bloody – campaign to dislodge terrorism "root and branch."

An incensed nation understands this. A Los Angeles Times poll taken late last week found more than two-thirds of respondents in support of the United States taking military action against those responsible for the attacks, even if it means incurring casualties.

The cynics claim that when body bags start coming home, such support will wane. They are exactly wrong. Additional casualties will only strengthen Americans' resolve. We can, we must, stay engaged in this fight until Americans feel safe again.

The doubters draw all the wrong lessons from the Vietnam experience. It wasn't just the body bags. It was the growing realization of Americans that their leaders were lying to them and that the mounting casualties were serving no larger purpose. At least during World War II, parents who buried their children could console themselves with the idea that progress was being made – however painful – and that evil was on the run. Not so in Vietnam.

It's time for evil to run again. This isn't some far-away war – this battle is on our home turf. Surrender isn't an option. Pulling out of Saigon was one thing. But, if this generation doesn't stand and fight against these demons, what are we supposed to do – pull out of Schenectady?