(With a tip of the hat to Ayn Rand)
Scott Ott posts a speech from President Bush that will never see the light of day:
PRESIDENT BUSH:
Lately, some in Congress have attempted to alter the language of our fight. They don’t like the phrase “global war on terror” and prefer to talk of isolated conflicts — of wars in this country or that region.
I can agree with them on one point: ‘Global War on Terror’ is not an adequate phrase, because it fails to name the enemy. The United States of America is not at war with terror any more than we’re at war with the AK-47 assault rifle or the improvised explosive device. We’re at war with people who employ these tools as they attempt to terrify us into submitting to their will.
It’s hard to know what to call these people. They march under the banner of Islam, but some Muslims say the terrorists have twisted the religion of Mohammad to justify their godless thirst for power. And yet there is no concerted effort among the world’s Muslim leaders to stamp out the brush fire of radicalism that threatens to turn their so-called ‘peaceful religion’ into a blazing crusade against the infidels — that means you and me. There is no significant coalition of Islamists working to bring justice to those who have so perverted their religion that a militia operates from a mosque under the blessing and command of the Imam. The failure of so-called moderate Muslims to take action against in their radical brethren is more telling than their infrequent condemnations of terror as a tool to advance their faith.
Our fight is a global war on terror in the sense that terror tactics aim to inspire fear. President Franklin Roosevelt wisely pointed out that our only formidable enemy during the darkest days of World War II was that paralyzing emotion that clouds our vision, wearies our muscles, staggers our steps and waters down our resolve.
In this battle against the principalities of fear, we fight no nation. We aim to conquer no ethnic or religious group. We desire to occupy not one inch of soil beyond our borders.
Some have said that the global war on terror is unwinnable, but I believe that it is unloseable. In other words, we must not lose this war for Western civilization.
And we will not lose, because Divine Providence rules in the affairs of men, because righteousness trumps wickedness, because freedom overshadows slavery, and because — despite all of our faults — the United States of America is the greatest nation the world has ever seen, and the only human hope for humanity. This is not an arrogant statement. It’s a humble recognition that God has seen fit to bless this experiment in citizen-rule with unprecedented prosperity, opportunity, joy and strength.
The enemy longs to strip the people of their God-given rights and power. But we love these treasures more than they hate them. We will guard them. We will not permit them to be plundered, even if it takes our last breath and our last drop of blood. Because to live in the world that our enemies envision is to live not at all.
Calling it the ‘global war on terror’ is accurate in this respect: This is a not a national conflict. It belongs to no country and respects no borders. No legitimate claim to sovereignty exists. When we triumph over the terrorists, no nation of people will be humbled. The losers will be the terrorists. No sensible person in any nation will mourn their loss. And some who now cower in caution, appearing to give tacit approval to the terrorists, will dance with joy on their graves.
Some think that the battle in Iraq is unrelated to the global war on terror. In this, they not only disagree with me, but they’re at odds with the terror leaders themselves who have poured millions of dollars and thousands of lives into the effort to raise the dark flag of fear over the heads of 25 million Iraqis. The terrorists fight in Iraq as if their future depends on it. It does.
They’d like nothing better than for us to view the conflict as a centuries-old civil war among a primitive people that cannot be resolved by any means.
If the attempt by our opponents to reclassify this global battle as a series of unconnected dots is successful, the terror leaders will check off another box on their to-do lists, and celebrate another milestone.
Much of the talk among politicians and pundits of all political stripes reflects an ignorance of history and of warfare.
The crucial element in time of war is not perceived troop morale or somebody’s gut feeling about how things are going. The crucial factor is victory always — and victory alone.
Victory means the enemy must surrender, his ability to wage war must be destroyed, his ambitions definitively denied. His commanders must be tried and punished, or slain on the field, and his troops disarmed. The streets of the war zones must be made safe for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The purpose of waging war is not to keep our troops out of harm’s way or even to bring our troops home. It is to defeat the enemy.
No soldier, Marine, seaman or airman wants to leave the theater of battle without the laurel of victory. No true American will countenance surrender, or anything like it. When our opponents here and abroad speak of anything short of victory, realize that it is nothing but defeat draped in the costume of fine words and empty diplomacy. Viewed in the full light of history, it is little short of treason.
The stakes could not be higher.
When our enemies believe that we don’t have the stomach to fight, they know that they have not only won the war, they have effectively ended the era of the American republic. We have become their colony, subject to their rule, and to their dark vision of a future under their law. We may be allowed to maintain our standing army, to conduct our legislative and judicial activities, but real executive power shall have been transferred to them.
This must never happen. We will not permit it.
Changing the name of the global war on terror does not end the war, anymore than a child covering her eyes makes the scary thing disappear.
May God grant us the wisdom to answer our calling to fight for something greater than our ambitions, and to do so with unshakable resolve toward ultimate victory.
Thank you. God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
That is too bad, I'd love to see this instead of the insipid drivel we get day after day. Unfortunately this is found on a satire site, when nothing could be further from the truth. Where is
Ronald Reagan when you need him?
