The erosion of anger

Once upon a time, there was a free, peaceful country. Then, it was attacked without provocation and suffered deep, painful losses. Not only was its military capability almost decimated, but thousands of young military personnel, caught unprepared, were injured and killed.

It was the attack on Pearl Harbor and the country was us – the United States of America. The president, FDR, called Dec. 7, 1941, “a date that will live in infamy.” And it has, even as many in the generation which experienced it, pass into history.

The attack on Pearl Harbor united our people and ignited in the country’s soul a simmering anger and the flame of determination to defeat the Japanese enemy. There was no way we would lose, for as a nation we were infused with an almost superhuman courage. President Roosevelt spoke of the “warm courage of national unity.”

Over the next decades, the country faced other wars and other horrors. There were political agreements and divisions. Lives were changed and lives were lost. Unity was not the operative word.

In fact, unity wasn’t seen again until 60 years later when there was another massive, surprise attack on the United States. It happened on Sept. 11, 2001. It’s remembered simply as 9-11.

It was an unprovoked attack, killing more than 3,000 innocent civilians, by an enemy wearing no uniform, representing no country and using religion as a shield. The enemy was – and is – militant Islamic terrorism and the people who carry out their horrors are the living embodiment of evil. Their goal is not the simple conquest of a nation – their goal is to wipe this country, Israel and Western nations off the globe. Either that, or convert them to Islam and put them under Islamic control.

The terrorists come from nations across the globe. They recruit and train their followers in hate for the West. They’re well funded and, perhaps most importantly, they’re not in a hurry. They plan far in advance to handle the logistics to pull off their intended carnage.

They attack everywhere – the Bali nightclub, Spanish railroads, African embassies, the USS Cole, the Moscow theatre, Marine barracks. Their first open, brazen and coordinated attack in North America was 9-11.

After the shock of that – and with the horror realized – Americans united in anger. Patriotism broke out and flags flew in defiance and pride. President Bush rose to the occasion, saying the 9-11 attacks were done in a manner and at a time chosen by the terrorists. He went on to say they would be stopped at a time, place and manner of our choosing. It was the president as leader and as a unifier when we needed it.

What followed were attacks on Afghanistan and then Iraq. Progress was made against terrorism. Al-Qaida money trails were cut, various leaders killed or captured and terrorist plots foiled. But the enemy fights on. Hit and run snipers, ambushes.

It’s dirty street fighting, but because we’re held to civilization’s rules, we’re at a disadvantage. The terrorists know it and love it. Weekly casualty reports from Iraq as a result of car bombs and ambushes can wear a people down, and that’s exactly what they want. They don’t care how many terrorists die as long as they kill some of us, one by one.

President Bush holds tight to his promise to fight the war on terror to its end. He’s never promised when or how because the enemy is too erratic.

Now, we see another side of the enemy as Islamic terrorists carried out a well-planned, coordinated attack on a Russian school. It wasn’t a threat against the innocents – it was a calculated horror, coldly planned to torture and kill the children and any adults who got in the way. More than 330 people are dead, some shot in the back. Russia vows vengeance, calling it their 9-11

We’re now three years from our 9-11, and while President Bush and many Americans understand, too many don’t realize we’re at war. Why should they? Mainstream media, which are supposed to bring us the truth, denigrate the “war on terrorism” and continue to censor the truth of 9-11 by refusing to show the video of the planes hitting the buildings and people jumping and falling. It appears they don’t want us to get too angry, for in our politically correct world, anger is a bad thing. Instead of steely anger, we see tears.

Wrong! It was the melding of anger and courage, which fueled the determination to win World War II. We need the same anger to win this war and there’s much more at stake.

If we pretend there’s no war, are denied the opportunity to see the reality of 9-11, are too politically correct to identify the enemy for what it is, and refuse to acknowledge that this is a battle to the death – then we’ve already lost. The terrorists attacks on Spain and Russia show they think they’re winning.

President Bush doesn’t believe that and isn’t caving. He talks about it in the campaign. Presidential candidate John Kerry doesn’t, which unfortunately plays right into terrorist hands.

The American people must face the reality of this battle for survival or line up for a new Islamic wardrobe.